Despite offer of compensation, Tiongs refused to move on and demand the impossible - bring back the DEAD
Distraught Chinese families of missing MH370 passengers stage fresh protests in Beijing
Relatives of those on board the missing plane demand meeting with Malaysian officials, begging the media to highlight their plight
PUBLISHED : Friday, 07 August, 2015, 12:56pm
UPDATED : Friday, 07 August, 2015, 11:15pm
Zhuang Pinghui and Laura Zhou
Relatives of passengers of missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 demonstrate outside the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing on Friday. Photo: Simon Song
Distraught relatives of passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 staged protests outside the Malaysian embassy and the airline's office in Beijing on Friday, but Malaysian officials turned down a request to meet them to discuss the investigation.
The family members refused to attend a meeting with the airline on Friday - which was scheduled before the wing segment was found on Réunion Island - unless the media and representatives of the Malaysian government are present. The airline has denied their request.
A policeman keeps journalists back as family members kneel in front of the media during a protest outside Malaysia Airlines' Beijing office on Friday. Photo: Reuters
Dozens of relatives showed up outside Malaysia Airlines' Beijing office, near the airport, to express their distrust of the carrier and the Malaysian government.
MH370, a Boeing 777, disappeared on March 8 last year with 239 people on board, 153 of them Chinese nationals. On Thursday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed that a wing flap found on the remote French island in the Indian Ocean belonged to the missing aircraft.
Outside the airline's office, relatives chanted slogans of "Malaysia, give back our families" and "prosperous and strong China, please take charge for your people's sake".
"The Malaysian government has jumped to its own conclusion even though the investigation [of the wing flap] in France has yet to come to any decision," said Jiang Hui, whose mother was on board the flight. "It has no respect for the families."
A Beijing woman whose adult daughter was on the plane said: "I am very angry with the Malaysian government. They say something today and another tomorrow. How can they be so sure?"
Dai Shuqin, whose sister and four members of her sister's family were on board, said she had no trust in the Malaysian government, the airline and even the French team investigating the debris found on Réunion.
"I believe only in the Chinese government," Dai said.
But some relatives were also unhappy with the central government. "This is an international incident, but now the government has asked us to go the local government's letters and petition office. How ridiculous is that?" one family member said.
Later in the day, the relatives made their way to the Malaysian embassy in downtown Beijing, where they staged another emotional protest, demanding to meet Malaysian officials.
About 50 relatives tried to barge through a police barricade of Beijing police officers and security guards sealing off a street leading to the embassy.
A relative breaks down in tears. Photo: AP
Some knelt and bowed in front of reporters at the scene, begging for greater media attention to their plight.
In another attempt to reach the Malaysian officials, the relatives produced two copies of handwritten and signed petition letters and passed one to the embassy through a policeman. In the letter, the relatives asked for a meeting with the officials.
"As Malaysia is leading the search and investigation efforts, we strongly demand the Malaysian government give an explanation for the reason they were absent from [Friday's] meeting," the letter read. "We strongly ask the Malaysian side to organise another meeting tomorrow and ensure their attendance at all future meetings."
The families had yet to receive a reply from the embassy by Friday afternoon.
