Relatives of Chinese passengers of ill-fated flight MH370 demand apology
Chinese relatives of passengers on Flight 370 on Sunday demanded that Malaysia apologize for its handling of the search for the missing plane and for the prime minister\'s statement saying it crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.
Kuala Lumpur: Chinese relatives of passengers on Flight 370 on Sunday demanded that Malaysia apologize for its handling of the search for the missing plane and for the prime minister's statement saying it crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.
Holding up banners demanding dignity and truth the group of families protested at a hotel near Kuala Lumpur just hours after flying in from Beijing.
Two-thirds of the 239 people aboard the Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared March 8 on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur were Chinese, and disappearance of the plane angered many in China. Celebrities have joined in the demand for the truth and several have announced boycotts.
Flight booking website eLong said it was suspending Malaysia Airlines flight sales until the relatives are satisfied with the government's response. Last Wednesday, Chinese touring agency CYTS said it would stop offering tours to the country because of safety concerns.
Actress Zhang Ziyi said in her blog, “Malaysian government, you have hurt the entire world ... You have misjudged the persistence in seeking truth by the world's people, including all the Chinese." she wrote on her microblog.
Jiang Hui, the Chinese national representing the relatives, said that they want the Malaysian government to apologize for what they see as missteps in the initial handling of the disaster as well as Prime Minister Najib Razak's statement that indicated the plane had crashed with no survivors. Jiang said the relatives felt the conclusion was announced without sufficient evidence.
"We also request that Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysian government apologize for making the conclusion on March 24, without direct evidence or a sense of responsibility, that the plane was destroyed and people died," Jiang said.
He said the group wanted to meet airline and government officials, although he stopped short of saying that included Najib, as earlier proposed by some relatives.
That wariness of the families was fueled by what they see as missteps at the beginning of the search, which started in waters off Vietnam, then swung to areas west of Malaysia and Indonesia, and then as radar and satellite information was further analyzed, to southwest of Australia and now to a second zone farther northeast.
"We hope that in these days, we can meet with technical teams involved in the search, and hold talks with Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysian government. We hope that these discussions will not be like they had been in Beijing, with wishy-washy answers," Jiang said.
Before the protest, Ong Ka Ting, the Malaysian prime minister's special envoy to China, went to the hotel to greet the relatives. “I'm sure in Beijing they've already had a lot of discussions and we understand their feelings, and we know that definitely by coming over here there will be a lot more discussions and meetings," Ong said. "So we try our best to assist them."
Jiang said the relatives wanted the government to release complete information and data related to the investigation in a comprehensive way.
