Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein denied on Tuesday that Malaysia is being uncooperative in terms of receiving international support to find the missing plane MH370. This is after some US officials are accusing the Malaysian government of not sharing as much information with foreign governments.
“This morning, I was [speaking] with [US Defence Secretary] Chuck Hagel and then I was also with my counterpart [from] China,” Hishammuddin told Reuters, emphasizing that Malaysian officials are fully cooperating with the FBI since March 8, the day Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 vanished mysteriously, about an hour after it left Kuala Lumpur. The plane’s communications systems suddenly went off.
“I have been working with them. It’s up to the FBI to tell us if they need more experts to help because it’s not for us to know what they have. No matter what everyone says, the cooperation that I am getting for Malaysia and for what efforts I am doing, it is overwhelming,” he added.
The blame game erupted when an earlier report at Xinhua, the official news agency of China, reported that the Malaysian government is allegedly not releasing sufficient information on the flight. The plane was bound to Beijing, carrying 239 passengers and crew, including 227 Chinese nationals.
Meanwhile, China’s ambassador in Kuala Lumpur, Huang Huikang said that a background check was made on 154 Chinese passengers who boarded the plane. Based on the result, there was no evidence that suggests any of them are involved in any case related to terrorism and plane hijacking. Earlier, Malaysian authorities theorized that the plane’s disappearance could be a “deliberate action” made inside the plane.
In other related news, families of Chinese passengers said that they will have a hunger strike as a protest. The relatives are accusing the Malaysian authorities of failing to provide more accurate information, and expressed their anger while staying in a Beijing hotel and waiting for updates.
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