China urges acceleration, communication in MH 370 search

KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 -- The most urgent task now is to speed up the search-and-rescue and investigation of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, said Guo Shaochun, the head of a Chinese joint working group in charge of the incident Wednesday.

In a joint meeting presided over by the Department of Civil Aviation of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, Guo said all China, especially the families of the Chinese passengers on board the missing jet, keenly hoped to be informed by Malaysia of detailed working progress on the search and rescue.

Guo said the Chinese government and its people are very concerned about the fate of the missing jet and President Xi Jinping has instructed all relevant Chinese departments to enhance communication and coordination with the Malaysian side and to spare no efforts in the searching and rescuing mission.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has also held emergency talks over the phone with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on the issue, Guo said.

China would like to keep close communication and coordination with Malaysia, Guo said. He proposed setting up a liaison mechanism between relevant departments of the two countries.

Expressing appreciation of Malaysia's sincere attitude and active efforts on the issue, Guo urged Malaysia to listen seriously and respond timely to the reasonable appeals from the missing passengers' relatives, and forwarded a list of demands collected from family members to the Malaysian side.

China asks for a unified channel on the Malaysian side to timely release authoritative and detailed information on the issue, said Guo.

The Malaysian side expressed its deep understanding of the concerns of the Chinese side, and said it attaches great importance to the incident, sending 25 vessels and more than 20 planes to search around the clock.

The Malaysian side promised to keep reinforcing the search-and-rescue and investigation efforts according to the requirements of the Chinese side, and well manage its communication with and service to the relatives of the Chinese passengers both in Beijing and Kuala Lumpur, adding that it would like to keep close communication and collaboration with the Chinese side.

The whereabouts of flight MH 370, a Boeing 777-200, remained unknown since it suddenly vanished from radar early Saturday morning while carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.