| China refusing to contribute funds to MH370 search |
AUSTRALIA is set to be stuck with the lion’s share of the bill for the MH370 search with China refusing to contribute anything despite having the most passengers on board.
Of the 239 people on the Malaysia Airlines’ flight, 153 were from China, which has played a key role in the decision-making about the search operation.
Although China did send ships from its navy to assist in the early days of the investigation, the country has steadfastly refused to contribute financially to the search.
A spokesman for The Office of Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss confirmed China had been asked to go thirds in the cost with Australia and Malaysia.
“China has not contributed resources or equipment to the underwater search,” said the spokesman.
MH370: Your questions answered
The Office of Deputy Prime Minister confirmed that Australia had spent $76 million on the search to date, and Malaysia had contributed $40 million.
Although Malaysia has publicly stated it will match Australia’s contribution, no further payments have been forthcoming.
Another $14 million has been budgeted by Australia for the search which is expected to take another year unless MH370’s tail section containing the black box recorders is found sooner.
Six Australians were on board the flight and 38 were Malaysian nationals.
University of Sydney International Relations expert Justin Hastings said there was no legal requirement for China to contribute and it had nothing to gain politically.
“From a Chinese perspective, they had to play for two audiences when the plane disappeared and there was a lot of Chinese people on board,” said Dr Hastings.
“The Chinese Government had to look like it was doing something, so they sent out a flotilla and they also used it to their advantage to gain bargaining leverage with Malaysia by saying ‘this is a problem you caused, that we are now helping to solve’.”
He said the issue could cause further tension between Australia and China but not significantly so.
“I would say that they don’t see a political cost from not giving a donation,” Dr Hastings said.
“They don’t necessarily want to set a precedent that leads to a financial obligation, and they’ve probably calculated it’s not going to overly harm them.”
In the case of Malaysia, Dr Hastings said Australia should not hold its breath waiting for the country to meet its commitment to pay half the search cost.
“As the country that controls the search and rescue region, Australia is obliged to head the search under international law, and we can ask for assistance,” he said.
“From Malaysia’s perspective, they already took a political hit when MH370 disappeared.
“To not honour their agreement to pay half the cost of the search is not going to do them much more damage.”
Australian aviation expert Neil Hansford said he found it totally abhorrent that China would not contribute anything to the cost of the search.
“It should be a case of, if you don’t pay, you don’t play,” said Mr Hansford.
“If find it totally abhorrent the Chinese are getting to call the shots, without paying a cent.”
Questions to the Chinese Ambassador to Australia were not answered yesterday.
| HAVE YOUR SAY!!! - What do you think about this story? Tell us here. |
|
