MH370 chills China-Malaysia ‘panda diplomacy’

KUALA LUMPUR: China has postponed the transfer of a pair of two giant pandas next week, authorities in Malaysia said.
China decided not to send the pandas to Malaysia, as bilateral relations remain uneasy over the disappearance of flight MH370.
The plane with 239 people on board, 153 of them Chinese, disappeared March 8 while en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.
The pandas are gifts to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Malaysia and were due to arrive next Wednesday. But Natural Resources and Environment Minister G. Palanivel says they are now expected before the end of May though no firm date is set.
Palanivel said Friday the delay was made to respect the families as the search for the plane reaches a crucial stage. Sounds detected in the southern Indian Ocean are suspected to be beacons on the jet’s black boxes.
The two countries agreed in 2012 that China would send the giant pandas for a 10-year stay in Malaysia, in Beijing’s latest use of “panda diplomacy” to cement ties with other countries.
But Malaysia’s environment minister G. Palanivel told AFP: “They (China) are waiting for the results of MH370.
“They will delay the arrival,” he said in a text message. “They might send in late May.”
In a separate public statement, Palanivel said China and Malaysia have agreed that the giant pandas should arrive “at a more significant date” in May.
May 31 marks the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Palanivel did not elaborate on the reasons for the delay, but the circumstances of the animals’ planned arrival appeared likely to cause embarrassment for China’s government, they were due arrive on April 16 on a Malaysia Airlines flight.
The airline and Malaysia’s government have come under withering public criticism in China, whose 153 nationals made up the bulk of the 239 aboard the missing jet.