KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian and Australian governments have expressed their thanks for the A$20mil (RM62mil) and ship pledged by China to continue the multinational search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull jointly stated that they were pleased with the contribution, following a bilateral meeting between both countries on the sidelines of the 27th Asean Summit and related summits, here, Sunday.
“Both governments are pleased with the financial contribution made by China,” Turnbull told a press conference jointly held with Najib.
Chinese premier Li Keqiang, who is in Malaysia to attend some of the related summits, made the announcement on Saturday during a meeting with Turnbull.
He said the contribution was made in the spirit of respect for the people, and expressed hope that Malaysia and Australia, which are leading the search for the missing airliner, would maintain communication with the Chinese government on the progress of the search.
MH370, with 239 people on board, disappeared on Mar 8 last year while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Most of the passengers on the plane were Chinese and Malaysian nationals.
The Malaysian government confirmed in August that an aircraft flaperon found on La Reunion in the Indian Ocean belonged to the missing flight.
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