Chinese ships trawled a new area in the Indian Ocean for a missing Malaysian passenger jet yesterday, as the search for Flight MH370 entered its fourth week amid a series of false dawns over sightings of debris.
Australian authorities coordinating the operation moved the search 1,100km north on Friday after new analysis of radar and satellite data concluded the Malaysia Airlines plane traveled faster and for a shorter distance after vanishing from civilian radar screens on March 8.
A Chinese military aircraft yesterday spotted three suspicious objects in the new search area 1,850km west of Perth, colored white, red and orange respectively, Xinhua news agency said.
MULTIPLE OBJECTS
That sighting follows reports of “multiple objects of various colors” by international flight crews on Friday, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. Some looked like they were from fishing boats and nothing could be confirmed until they were recovered by ships, it added.
“We’re hopeful to relocate some of the objects we were seeing yesterday,” Royal New Zealand Air Force Squadron Leader Flight Lieutenant Leon Fox told reporters before flying out to the search zone on an Orion P-3. “Hopefully some of the ships in the area will be able to start picking it up and give us an indication of what we were seeing.”
The Chinese navy vessel Jinggangshan, which carries two helicopters, reached the new search area early yesterday where it was expected to focus on searching for plane surfaces, oil slicks and life jackets in a sea area of about 6,900km2, Xinhua reported. Another four Chinese vessels and one from Australia were on the way, but would not arrive until late in the day.
MOTIVE MYSTERY
Malaysia says the Boeing 777, which vanished less than an hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was likely diverted deliberately, but investigators have turned up no apparent motive or other red flags among the 227 passengers or the 12 crew.
US officials close to the investigation said the FBI found nothing illuminating in data it had received from computer equipment used by MH370’s pilots, including a home-made flight simulator.
The search has involved more than two dozen countries and 60 aircraft and ships, but has been bedeviled by regional rivalries and an apparent reluctance to share potentially crucial information due to security concerns.
Two Malaysian military aircraft which arrived in Perth yesterday are expected to join the search party for the first time today.
CHINESE COMPLAINTS
The Malaysian government has come under strong criticism from China, home to more than 150 of the passengers, where relatives of the missing have accused the government of “delays and deception.”
More than 20 Chinese relatives yesterday staged a brief protest outside the Lido hotel in Beijing where families have been staying for the past three weeks, demanding evidence of the plane’s fate.
Malaysian Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said his country was committed to seeing the investigation through to its final conclusion.
“What they want from us is a commitment to continue the search, and that I have given, not only on behalf of the Malaysian government, but the so many nations involved,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur after speaking with families yesterday.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese