MH370 passengers’ relatives hold Beijing protest

Furious over Malaysia’s handling of the lost jetliner a day after the country said the passengers must be dead, Chinese relatives of the missing marched on Tuesday to the Malaysia Embassy, where they threw plastic water bottles, tried to rush the gate and chanted, “Liars!”

The Chinese government, meanwhile, demanded that Malaysia turn over the satellite data it used to conclude that Malaysia Airlines flight 370 was lost in the southern Indian Ocean with no survivors during a flight to Beijing.

Nearly 100 relatives and their supporters marched to the embassy in the late morning, wearing white T-shirts that read “Let’s pray for MH370” as they held banners and chanted.

“Tell the truth! Return our relatives!” they shouted. There was a heavy police presence at the embassy when the group arrived, and journalists were kept away.

Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng told Malaysia’s ambassador to Beijing that China wanted to know what exactly led Malaysia to announce on Monday night that the plane had been lost, China’s Foreign Ministry said on its website on Tuesday.

“We demand the Malaysian side to make clear the specific basis on which they come to this judgment,” Mr. Xie was quoted as telling Datuk Iskandar Bin Sarudin.