Distrust as China seeks satellite’s data on jet

China demanded yesterday that Malaysia turn over the satellite data used to conclude that a Malaysia Airlines jetliner had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, killing 239.

Officials sharply narrowed the search area as a result of that assessment, but the zone remains almost as large as France and Britain combined.

Australia said improved weather would allow the hunt to resume today after gale-force winds and heavy rain forced a day-long delay. Searchers face a daunting task. “We’re not searching for a needle in a haystack — we’re still trying to define where the haystack is,” Australia’s deputy defence chief, Air Marshal Mark Binskin, told reporters at a military base in Perth.

On Monday, Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak announced a new analysis of satellite data confirmed the plane had crashed in a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean.

That announcement unleashed a storm of sorrow and anger among the families of the plane’s passengers and crew — two-thirds of them Chinese.

Nearly 100 relatives and their supporters marched yesterday to the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing, where they threw plastic water bottles, tried to rush the gate, and chanted “liars”.

In a clear statement of support for the families, Chinese president Xi Jinping ordered a special envoy, vice foreign minister Zhang Yesui, to Kuala Lumpur to deal with the case. Deputy foreign minister Xie Hangsheng told Malaysia’s ambassador China wanted to know exactly what led Najib to announce that the plane had been lost, a statement on the ministry’s website said.

Investigators and the Malaysian government have been able to say little with certainty about Flight 370’s fate since it disappeared on March 8, shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.

Investigators will be looking at various possibilities including mechanical or electrical failure, hijacking, sabotage, terrorism or issues related to the mental health of the pilots or someone else on board.