China says it can't confirm satellite images connected to missing plane

BEIJING - China's civil aviation chief said on Thursday that there was no proof that floating objects in the South China Sea seen by satellite images were connected to a missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft.

"Chinese satellites have found smoke and floating objects ... At present we cannot confirm this is related to the missing aircraft," Li Jiaxiang told reporters on the sidelines of China's annual meeting of parliament.

He added that there was also no evidence the Malaysian military was concealing information about the missing flight.

A map with a pin at 105.63 degrees longitude East and 6.7 degrees latitude North, where images of suspected debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was captured by a Chinese satellite. (Screengrab: Google Maps)

At least 43 ships and 39 aircraft from Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, China, the US, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand have joined the search for the missing Boeing 777-200ER. India, Japan and Brunei joined the search operations on March 12. (Graphic: ST)

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