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Wang Qi, the 77-year-old Chinese army veteran who returned to China on Saturday after 54 years in India, has not yet decided whether he will eventually settle in China or return to his home in Madhya Pradesh, his family has said.
Since his emotional reunion on Saturday in Xian with his brothers and sister, Wang has been swept up in a whirl of media attention and feted by the government. His return has been celebrated by the Chinese media and has received non-stop coverage for the past few days.
While Wang's wife Sushila, whom he married in the village of Tirodi in Madhya Pradesh where he has lived since 1969, and daughter Anita did not accompany him on the long journey to China because of health reasons and remain in India, he was accompanied by his son Vishnu Wang, his daughter-in-law Neha and grandson.
As Wang in the coming days reunites with long-lost relatives here, the family will also in weeks ahead have to decide on his future. The 77-year-old is thought to be keen "on spending the last years of life in China" as one acquaintance said, but his wife remains in India, where his son and daughter and their families reside.
WHAT NEXT FOR WANG QI
"This is a decision the family has to sit together and decide, whether my father and us stay or go back, and when we go back," Vishnu Wang told India Today, speaking at the hotel where the Wang family has been residing since their arrival. They have been hosted by the local government in the town of Xiangyang, near Xian, which is an hour away from the remote and difficult-to-reach family village of Xuezhai where Wang Qi's brothers live.
Wang is expected to travel to the remote village on Monday and pay respects at the grave of his mother, whom he never had the chance to see since his jailing in 1963. She passed away seven years ago.
Vishnu spoke of his father's joy at reuniting with his brothers, who last saw him as a young 20-year-old.
"My father met with his family for the first time after 54 years, his older and younger brother, and sister. He couldn't stop crying," Vishnu said. "We are thankful to both India and China governments for taking the good decision of allowing him to come to China. I'm also so happy, that for the first time he has been able to come here."
The family's only regret was Wang being unable to see his mother. "The only thing I'm sad about is he was waiting for so long to see his mother, but its a source of sadness for our family that she was not alive to see this," Vishnu said.
GOVT TO PROVIDE LAND, HOME TO QI IN CHINA
The family faces a difficult decision in the weeks ahead, as Wang Qi decides whether to return to his family in India, or relocate with his wife, even as his children live in India.
Wang is a Chinese citizen, and was issued a passport by China in 2003. He has been granted a one-year visa by India, relatives said, which would allow him to return to his home in Madhya Pradesh.
China has unusually given his son Vishnu and his family a two-year visa that is rarely granted to foreign citizens, underlining the significance Beijing has attached to the case. But under Chinese laws, Wang's children, who are Indian citizens, will not be able to reside permanently in China unless they find employment here.
It is clear that China would like Wang to stay, given how the government has hailed his return. The local government has said they would make land and a home available for Wang in his home village and given the widespread coverage that Wang Qi has received from media outlets in China, there is unlikely to be any shortage of help and support should he return.
For the government, Wang's story has also served propaganda value, with media highlighting the government's efforts to bring back a forgotten veteran - few questions have been asked as to why it took the authorities so long to do so, including several decades before he was even issued a Chinese passport - and also stressing good relations between India and China amid recent strains.
While officials told media outlets on Saturday they would be barred from witnessing Wang's long awaited reunion with his brothers at Xian airport to allow "a private moment" for the family, the State broadcaster CCTV and the Xinhua news agency were somehow on hand to capture the moment in a restricted area in Xian airport. CCTV and XInhua have covered Wang's every move since his feted arrival.
For the Chinese government, Wang Qi's long-awaited return to China presents the perfect ending to a complex story that has received wide attention. For the Wang family however, after a joyous and delayed reunion with their loved ones, the task of resolving difficult questions surrounding their future is only just beginning.
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