Search hampered by distrust
The search is being hampered by distrust and lack of cooperation between Malaysia, China and other Asian countries involved in the effort. China, who had 153 of its citizens on board as passengers, accuses the Malaysian government of releasing information in a “chaotic” fashion. State-run news agency, Xinhua, says:
As Malaysia Airlines is state owned, the Malaysian government is the core force in the fact-finding mission. Unless transparency is ensured, the huge international search operation can never be as fruitful as we hope and expect.
Malaysian officials say China’s criticisms are not fair, and that the Malaysian government is proud of its efforts. For its part, Vietnam criticizes China for not informing it about satellite photos purportedly showing a debris field in the South China Sea, and having to learn about it from Internet reports. Malaysian officials deny hiding anything.