Dozens
of angry relatives of passengers on a lost Malaysian jetliner clashed
with police in Beijing on Tuesday, accusing the Southeast Asian country
of "delays and deception" a day after it confirmed the plane crashed in
remote seas off Australia.
About 20 to 30 protesters threw
water bottles at the Malaysian embassy and tried to storm the building,
demanding to meet the ambassador, witnesses said. Earlier, the
relatives, many with tear-stained faces, had linked arms and chanted "Malaysian government has cheated us" and "Malaysia, return our relatives" as they marched peacefully and held banners.
The
relatives' grief and anger was unleashed on Monday night after
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that Malaysia Airlines
Flight MH370, which vanished more than two weeks ago while flying to
Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.
Citing
satellite-data analysis by British firm Inmarsat, he said there was now
no doubt that the Boeing jet came down in the ocean in one of the most
remote places on Earth - an implicit admission that all 239 people on
board had died.
Bad weather in the region far off Australia's
western coast on Tuesday forced the suspension of the search for any
wreckage, just as a series of satellite images and other sightings of
floating objects had raised hopes that debris from the plane would be
found.
Malaysia's confused initial response to the Boeing 777's
disappearance and a perception of poor communications has enraged many
relatives of the more than 150 Chinese passengers and strained ties
between Beijing and Kuala Lumpur.
After Najib's announcement,
Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng demanded Malaysia hand
over all relevant satellite analysis showing how Malaysia had reached
its conclusion about the fate of the jet.
In a separate
statement, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China would ask Malaysia to
provide more detailed and accurate information on the plane, according
to a government microblog account. Chinese President Xi Jinping will
send a special envoy to Kuala Lumpur to consult with the Malaysian
government, state news agency Xinhua said on Tuesday.
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