BEIJING—The Chinese ambassador to Malaysia said Tuesday that China is launching new search operations in its territory for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and that investigators found no evidence that Chinese nationals on board played a role in the airliner's disappearance.
State media quoted the ambassador, Huang Huikang, as saying that after an investigation into the backgrounds of the Chinese passengers, authorities found no reason to believe any were linked to a possible hijacking of the Boeing 777 or to terrorism.
Reports by the Xinhua news agency and China Central Television didn't say how Chinese authorities carried out the investigation into the Chinese nationals, who accounted for 153 of the 239 people on board. Mr. Huang was quoted as saying that background checks were involved.
The reports, citing Mr. Huang, also said that the search operations were taking place inside China along the northern route investigators believe the plane may have traveled. Details on the search weren't provided, though the northern route would have taken the aircraft over a large but sparsely populated portion of western China.
As the search has expanded in recent days, drawing in more than 26 countries, the Chinese government and official media have gone increasingly silent on China's investigation into the plane, which disappeared during an overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8.
The defense and foreign ministries haven't said whether Chinese radar tracked Flight 370 inside the country's airspace.
Following the jet's disappearance, Chinese warships and civilian maritime vessels rushed to waters around the Gulf of Thailand. The focus later switched to the other side of Peninsular Malaysia and then farther west to the Andaman Sea and Indian Ocean.
On Tuesday, all remaining Chinese search vessels in the Gulf of Thailand were being sent to waters near Singapore, Xinhua reported, from where they would take up new searches for the missing aircraft.
During a phone call Monday between Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Mr. Li said that many Chinese aircraft and 21 of its satellites were also involved in the search.
Mr. Li echoed earlier statements by the Chinese government calling on Malaysia to provide it with more detailed information on the investigation.
Source: Wall Street Journal by Brian Spegele
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