In this Malaysia Airlines handout photo taken and released on March 8, 2015, Malaysia Airlines employees and family members of passengers onboard the ill-fated Malaysia airlines MH370 plane, attend a private remembrance event in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia's prime minister said on March 8 his nation remained committed to the so-far fruitless hunt for flight MH370 exactly one year after it went missing, and was hopeful the plane would be found.(Photo: MALAYSIA AIRLINES, AFP/Getty Images)
BEIJING – Amid a heavy police presence Sunday, at least 30 relatives of the Chinese passengers on board missing flight MH370 gathered at a Beijing temple to mark the first anniversary of the plane's wholly unexplained disappearance en route to the Chinese capital.
Holding signs and white t-shirts saying "search on", and demanding "the truth", the relatives said they wanted to commemorate the day, pray for their loved ones' safe return and maintain pressure for more information from Malaysian authorities, who they believe are concealing information.
The Boeing 777 jetliner carried 239 passengers and crew, including 153 Chinese citizens. Cheng Liping came to remember her missing husband, movie stunt man Ju Kun. "I came to pray for him, I've been here many times before," she said. "We have had no real information from Malaysia, but we will not give up." Her home-made sign read "I will never give up. There is no home without my husband. My two sons need their father to return home safely."
Outnumbered by uniformed and plainclothes police, the relatives gathered outside the Buddhist temple's main entrance. They have gathered there on previous occasions, such as the six-month anniversary, and after the late January announcement by Malaysian authorities that the plane had met an "accident" with all passengers and crew presumed dead.
"Today, we stand united in remembering and honouring the 239 people, including 50 Malaysians, on-board MH370," Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a statement. "Our prayers are with them and their loved ones left behind – whose sorrow we share."
Chinese authorities are nervous of any public gathering by independent groups, and tried to prevent journalists from interviewing relatives Sunday. Security concerns are currently heightened as China is holding its brief annual session of the rubber-stamp parliament beside Tiananmen Square.
The police also strengthened their presence outside the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing, where relatives have often gone to protest against the country's handling of the crisis.
In the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, the airline was expected to hold a private ceremony Sunday for next of kin of the missing flight crew. Relatives planned a public event to remember their loved ones at a central square in the city.
On Sunday afternoon, Malaysia will release online an interim report about the investigation, required by international aviation authorities within one year of an incident. The report will detail the technical aspects of the underwater search in the southern Indian Ocean, where satellite analysis suggests the plane crashed. The most expensive search in aviation history has yet to find any debris from flight MH370.
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