CRI听力:Recovery Mission for MH370 Reduced to a Much Smaller Area

A fleet of Chinese ships and helicopters are expected to arrive in the southern Indian Ocean off Western Australia in the coming few hours to aide in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

CRI's Jordan Lee has more.

Reporter: The search and recovery of missing flight MH370 is resuming today after bad weather forced the suspension of the search yesterday.

While activities in the water were halted, officials did manage to narrow their search grid to only one-fourth its original size.

Acting Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

"As a result of this new data analysis, the search and rescue operation in the northern corridor has been called off. We have also stopped the search and rescue operation in the northern part of the southern corridor close to Indonesia."

Hussein also says an American pinger locater, an instrument that can help find the missing aircraft's black box, is now on its way to Perth.

It's expected to arrive in the search area next week.

Finding the flight data recorder quickly is going to be one of the most critical next steps, as its locator beacon will eventually begin to fade out, as the black boxes normally only have 30-days of battery life.

A pair of airplanes from South Korea are also joining the multinational search today.

Here in Beijing, the Chinese government is repeating its request for others involved in the joint effort to share any information they get.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei.

"This search and rescue operation is a large-scale, international cooperation. So China hopes that the relevant international organizations and related countries can provide Malaysia and China valuable clues and information to help us carry out the relevant search in a targeted way."

The Chinese government is also demanding the Malaysian side ensure the family members of the missing Chinese passengers be better informed of any new information.

This, after dozens of angry relatives protested and scuffled with police outside the Malaysian embassy yesterday afternoon here in Beijing.

The protest lasted for a few hours before the demonstrators were eventually led away by police.

At the same time, Chinese President Xi Jinping, currently on a state visit in Europe, has sent a special envoy to Kuala Lumpur to deal with the search and recovery of the missing jet.

Meanwhile, the Australian government is working with the countries of the relatives of the 239 passengers and crew to expedite visas for them to head to Perth, where the recovery efforts are based.

For CRI, I'm Jordan Lee.