Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today moved to blame Chinese newspapers for "stoking the anger" of the families of those on board of the MH370 flight, especially the Chinese families who are in Beijing.

 

This was said in the Dewan Rakyat today. However, Zahid clarified to reporters at the Parliament lobby later that he was referring to the media in China.

 

Anger among the Chinese families against the Malaysian government and Malaysian Airlines had reached a zenith in the past couple of days, and Ahmad Zahid attributed this to the "writings of most Chinese newspapers."

 

"They have played up sentiment until they provoked the anger of the relatives of the victims of MH370, especially those in China," he said, during the home ministry's winding up speech for the debate on the motion of thanks for the royal address. 

He said that the government should not be blamed for the loss of MH370 because it was an "accident".

 

"The Prime Minister and the acting Transport Minister had worked so hard to solve this problem," he said.

 

"But the papers have manipulated this issue until the relatives of the victims in Beijing had become very angry."