Several dozen relatives of Chinese passengers who travelled on Flight MH370 have demanded that Malaysia apologise 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 that read "We want evidence, truth, dignity" in Chinese, and "Hand us the murderer. Tell us the truth. Give us our relatives back" in English, the group staged a protest at a hotel near Kuala Lumpur just hours after flying in from Beijing.
Two-thirds of the 227 passengers aboard the Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared on March 8 en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur were Chinese, and many of the relatives have denounced Malaysia's handling of the search for the jet.
They repeatedly chanted slogans in Chinese: “We want evidence! We want the truth! We want our relatives!”
Jiang Hui, the relatives' designated representative, said they wanted the Malaysian government to apologise for what they see as missteps in the initial handling of the disaster as well as prime minister Najib Razak's earlier statement that indicated the plane had crashed with no survivors. Mr Jiang said the relatives felt the conclusion was announced without sufficient evidence.
“We also request that Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysian government apologise for making the conclusion on March 24th, without direct evidence or a sense of responsibility, that the plane was destroyed and people died,” Mr Jiang said.
He said the group wanted to meet airline and government officials, although he stopped short of saying that included Mr Najib, as earlier proposed by some relatives.
Mr Najib went on television on March 24 to say that based on radar and satellite analysis the plane had crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean, but there were lingering questions because there was no physical evidence.
That wariness on the part of the relatives was also fuelled by 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 analysed, to south west of Australia and now to a second zone farther north east.
“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,” Mr 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.”
Mr Jiang said the relatives wanted the government to release information and data related to the investigation in a "prompt and comprehensive way". They also wanted the airline to set up meetings with representatives from Boeing, Rolls-Royce and Inmarsat, saying the lack of interaction was troubling.
“It has been 22 days now and none of their people have shown up,” he said, referring to the companies. “Could it be that there really are problems with the quality of their products? What are they worried about?”
Several dozen other relatives had flown to Kuala Lumpur shortly after the plane disappeared. Other relatives have been meeting Malaysian officials in Beijing, where they also marched to the Malaysian embassy to protest.
In Perth, Australia, where the search is based, Australia set up a co-ordination centre for the multinational operation. Possibly in anticipation that wreckage of the plane will be found, officials said the centre will also be a contact point for the families, including interpreter services and counselling.
AP