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 The object, around 22 meters long (74ft) and 13 meters (43ft)
wide, was spotted early on March 18 around 120 km (75 miles) from a
location where possible debris was sighted by another satellite on
March 16 in the remote ocean off western Australia, China's State
Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National
Defense (SASTIND) said on its website.
The Chinese sighting was first revealed by Malaysia's Defence
Minister and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who was
handed a note with details during a news conference in Kuala Lumpur.
"Chinese ships have been dispatched to the area," Hishammuddin said.
China said an image of the object had been captured by its
high-definition earth observation satellite "Gaofen-1". The location
was south by west of the possible debris announced by Australia on
Thursday, SASTIND said.
The latest possible lead in the hunt for the jetliner comes two
weeks after it disappeared from civilian radar screens less than an
hour after taking-off from the Malaysian capital on a scheduled
flight to Beijing.
Searches by more than two dozen countries have so far turned up
little but frustration and fresh questions about Malaysia Airlines
Flight MH370.
REMOTE SEAS
The international search for the plane has in recent days focused on
the southern Indian Ocean far off Australia's western coast after
satellite images captured floating objects that investigators
believed could be parts of an aircraft.
Six aircraft and two merchant ships have been scouring the area, but
there were no reports of any wreckage being found.
Australia, which announced the first satellite image and is
coordinating the rescue, has cautioned the objects might be a lost
shipping container or other debris and may have since sunk.
"Even though this is not a definite lead, it is probably more solid
than any other lead around the world and that is why so much effort
and interest is being put into this search," Deputy Prime Minister
Warren Truss told reporters, before latest Chinese report.
According to several people familiar with the matter, India has told
Malaysian investigators that it had found no evidence the plane flew
through its airspace, making the satellite debris lead more solid.
It was the first formal notification that India had come up
empty-handed after checking its radar records, the sources said.
China, Japan and India were sending more planes and Australian and
Chinese navy vessels were also steaming towards the southern zone,
more than 2,000 km (1,200 miles) southwest of Perth.
Weather conditions were good, with 10 km (6 miles) of visibility,
according to officials — a crucial boost for a search that is
relying more on human eyes than the technical wizardry of the most
advanced aircraft in the world.
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"I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE UP"
Aircraft and ships have also renewed the search in the Andaman Sea
between India and Thailand, going over areas in the northern
corridor that have already been exhaustively swept to find some clue
to unlock one of the biggest mysteries in modern aviation.
The Pentagon said it was considering a request from Malaysia for
sonar equipment. The P-8 and P-3 spy planes, which the United States
is already deploying in the search, also carry "sonobuoys" that are
dropped into the sea and use sonar signals to search the waters
below.
Investigators suspect the Boeing 777 was deliberately diverted
thousands of miles from its scheduled path. They say they are
focusing on hijacking or sabotage but have not ruled out technical
problems.
The search itself has strained ties between China and Malaysia, with
Beijing repeatedly leaning on the Southeast Asian nation to step up
its hunt and do a better job at looking after the relatives of the
Chinese passengers.
For families of the passengers, the process has proved to be an
emotionally wrenching battle to elicit information.
In a statement on Saturday, relatives in Beijing lambasted a
Malaysian delegation for "concealing the truth" and "making fools"
out of the families after they said they left a meeting without
answering all their questions.
"This kind of conduct neglects the lives of all the passengers,
shows contempt for all their families, and even more, tramples on
the dignity of Chinese people and the Chinese government," they
said.
Some experts have argued that the reluctance to share sensitive
radar data and capabilities in a region fraught with suspicion amid
China's military rise and territorial disputes may have hampered the
search.
(Additional reporting by Ruairidh Villar, Tim Hepher, Niki
Koswanage, A. Ananthalakshmi and Siva Govindasamy in Kuala Kumpur,
Lincoln Feast in Sydney and Jason Lee in Beijing; editing by Michael
Perry and Nick Macfie)
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