Chinese envoy meets families of MH370 passengers, more objects spotted

A Chinese special envoy on Thursday met the families of Chinese passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines jet, while a Japanese satellite spotted more floating objects in the Indian Ocean possibly related to the plane. [Special coverage]

Zhang Yesui, a deputy foreign minister, said Chinese leaders are concerned about the fate of the passengers.

China has employed vast resources, including 21 satellites, over 10 ships and dozens of plane sorties, in the search for the missing plane and will further intensify its search efforts, Zhang added.

He assured the relatives that China is doing its best to push Malaysia to coordinate international search efforts.

Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, have personally engaged in coordination with leaders of other countries on search efforts, he said.

"Our goal is to make every effort to find our missing countrymen. We will not give up as long as there is still a glimmer of hope," said the special envoy, who was appointed by Xi to consult with the Malaysian side and deal with the matter of the missing flight.

China will continue to ask Malaysia to accurately inform the relatives of the passengers about the search and investigation progress in a timely manner, he said, adding that the Chinese government will continue to provide help and service to the families.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said five Chinese vessels have arrived in the waters where Australia spotted floating objects that might be related to the plane.

Another three vessels were heading for the sea area while four vessels were still searching the eastern part of the southern Indian Ocean, Hong told a daily press briefing.

Synergy between Chinese search efforts in the air and at sea will be strengthened after more vessels have arrived in the waters, he said.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Defense Ministry said the military will make sure enough troops are available during the search.

Chinese naval vessels have so far scoured 93,000 square km of sea areas, while air force planes have searched an area of 102,000 square km, said Geng Yansheng, a spokesman of the Defense Ministry.

He added that more than 10 military satellites were deployed in the search.

Also on Thursday, Japanese media reported that a Japanese satellite had spotted about 10 suspicious objects in the Indian Ocean.

The objects were about 2,500 km southwest of the Australian port of Perth, in the same area where other countries also found suspicious debris, Japan's Kyodo News cited Japanese government officials as saying.

The report said that after analyzing the images, which were taken on Wednesday, the Japanese government had supplied related information to Malaysia.

It is believed that the biggest object is 8 by 4 meters. Some analysts from the Japanese government suspect the objects may belong to the missing jet.

The new findings came one day after the Malaysian government's announcement that satellite images from France revealed 122 unidentified objects floating in the southern Indian Ocean.

Australian authorities confirmed on Thursday that the positions of the objects were within the search zone, about 2,500 km southwest of Perth.

Malaysia said Monday that evidence showed the Boeing 777, which vanished while flying to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, had "ended" in the southern Indian Ocean. The plane was carrying 12 crew and 227 passengers, including 154 Chinese.

A multinational search for the wreckage has since continued, but no debris has been recovered from the ocean so far.