BEIJING: Chinese soldier Wang Qi will return to China sometime on Saturday, the Indian embassy informed on Friday. He has been living in India for over five decades since he strayed across the border from China in 1962. Wang lives with his Indian wife and children in a Madhya Pradesh village.
Wang was caught for entering the Indian territory shortly after the China-India War of 1962. He was later released from jail.
“Wang with his wife Sushila, and their son Vishnu and two other family members will be flying to China,” Balaghat Collector Bharat Yadav told mediapersons.
He said Wang and his four family members got visa today and they might fly to China tomorrow. This has happened due to the help they received from the ministry of home and external affairs.
Official sources in Beijing said Wang and his family members are expected to arrive here tomorrow.
After their arrival, they would travel to his native place in Shaanxi Province to meet Wang’s relatives, they said.
The development has come within a week after a delegation from the Chinese Embassy met Wang who had been wanting to visit his country.
Wang, who lives with his wife and three children in Tirodi area of Balaghat district, has not been able to visit China for the last five decades for want to permission from Indian government, according to the family.
He is coming along with family members, an embassy spokesperson said. The visit has been facilitated with the joint effort of Indian and Chinese governments. No other details are available. It is not clear if this is a short term visit or he is coming to his country for good.
Wang was given a Chinese passport by the Chinese embassy in New Delhi in 2013. But his wife and children are Indian citizens. Chinese authorities began intense efforts to bring Wang to China after the local media picked up an interview BBC had with him. In the interview, Wang, who is in his eighties, expressed his desire to visit China to meet his long lost brother.
“In 2013, the embassy issued a 10-year Chinese passport to him and started giving him a living allowance every year. I believe that with the joint efforts of China and India, and respecting the will of Wang Qi himself, the case will be properly solved,” Lu said. “The Chinese embassy has not only kept in close touch with Mr Wang Qi and his family, we have also been in close touch with the Indian side on this case,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said.
