China, Australia communicating on MH370 search
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E-mail Xinhua, March 21, 2014
China is in close communication with Australia on the search for the missing MH370 plane, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Friday.
He told a daily press briefing that the China has sent several vessels to the area where possible debris was spotted and got support and cooperation from the Australian side.
Two objects possibly related to MH370 have been sighted by satellite in the remote southern Indian Ocean, Australian officials said on Thursday.
Chinese icebreaker "Xuelong," which is anchored at the Australian city of Perth, is set to head for the southern Indian Ocean on Friday evening.
It would take about four days for the icebreaker to arrive in the waters about 1,000 nautical miles from Perth.
Chinese vessel "Haixun 01" is searching for the lost Malaysian jet in waters near Christmas Island in the southern Indian Ocean.
The vessel was about 110 nautical miles west of the island at 9 a.m. Beijing time on Friday, and will sail southward to continue searching together with another vessel, "Nanhaijiu 101," a Xinhua reporter on board the ship said.
Haixun 01 dispatched a search helicopter on Friday morning and stepped up radar monitoring. Meanwhile, three naval warships are also racing to the southern Indian Ocean.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 mysteriously disappeared in the early hours of March 8 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A total of 239 people were on board, including 154 Chinese passengers.
