Families of the passengers aboard missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 yesterday directed their anger at Beijing security officials who tried to prevent them from taking to the streets.
The move raised the political stakes for a Chinese leadership that had previously avoided any domestic criticism for its handling of the tragedy.
China’s leaders reacted quickly to the unexpected challenge. By the end of the day the official Xinhua news agency announced that President Xi Jinping would dispatch a special envoy to Malaysia, while Premier Li Keqiang expressed sympathy for the families and reiterated Beijing’s demands that Kuala Lumpur share satellite data and other evidence suggesting the jet crashed in the Indian Ocean.