China's Satellite Spots Possible Plane Debris
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SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 2014 INTERNATIONAL Thousands mourn Shanghai’s ‘underground’ Bishop SHANGHAI: Thousands of mourn- Fan Zhongliang, whose faith led who was imprisoned for much of after several days of high fever, gy in red-and-white robes. A large the most prominent converts ers packed a Shanghai square yes- him to endure decades of suffer- the last two decades and spent his according to the US-based photo of Fan adorned the hall, secured by 16th-century Italian mis- terday to bid farewell to “under- ing at the hands of China’s ruling final years under house arrest, Cardinal Kung Foundation, a surrounded by flowers. Chinese sionary Matteo Ricci. The long-serv- ground” Catholic Bishop Joseph Communist Party, they said. Fan, died last Sunday at the age of 97 Roman Catholic organization. authorities had turned down a ing bishop of Shanghai’s state-run China has a state-controlled request from worshippers to hold Catholic Church, Aloysius Jin Luxian, Catholic Church, which rejects the Fan’s funeral service at Shanghai’s died last year at age 96. Father Vatican’s authority, as well as an main Catholic cathedral, the Giuseppe Zhu Yude, a priest from “underground” church. Experts esti- Cardinal Kung Foundation said. the underground church, led the mate that there are as many as 12 mass for Fan’s funeral yesterday. million Catholics in China, split ‘Forbidden’ from duty Overseas and underground Chinese roughly evenly between the two Fan was ordained a priest in Catholics had requested that Jin’s churches. “I came here to bid 1951 and spent more than two successor, Thaddeus Ma Daqin, be farewell to our bishop,” said a decades in jail and labor camps. His allowed to preside. woman in her 60s who gave her appointment as bishop of Shanghai But that request was apparently name only as Clare and who was in 2000 was rejected by China’s rebuffed. According to the Vatican- among a throng of mourners gath- state-run church. “Bishop Fan was linked AsiaNews website, Ma-who ered outside the funeral home forbidden to carry out his pastoral was stripped of his title after he dra- where Fan’s body was laid out. “He duty as the government put him matically split with China’s state-run had kept loyal to the Lord through- under house arrest almost immedi- church at his installation ceremony out his life and endured great suf- ately-a sentence that he served until last July and has since been under fering. I have great respect for him,” the day he died,” Joseph Kung, pres- house arrest-remained under close she said of Fan, who was appointed ident of the foundation, wrote in a watch by authorities. Members of bishop of Shanghai in 2000 by Pope statement. China’s Communist both the state-controlled and John Paul II. regime broke ties with the Vatican underground churches were in In the square outside the in 1951, and although relations attendance at Fan’s funeral, and funeral home, a large screen dis- have improved in recent years as some expressed concern about the played photos of Fan while the country’s Catholic population uncertainty the church in Shanghai mourners sang, prayed and lis- has grown, they remain at odds now faces. “Bishop Fan had held tened to a man narrating the over which side has the authority to onto his faith during the darkest bishop’s life story. As the service ordain priests. times,” said a middle-aged woman SHANGHAI: Clergy and mourners offers prayers at the funeral of the late head of the got underway, it relayed scenes Shanghai is considered an named Grace. “I believe as long as underground Catholic Church in Shanghai, Bishop Joseph Fan Zhongliang, as he lies in a from inside the funeral home: important diocese given the city’s we follow his example, the Lord will Fan’s body was laid out in the cen- historical ties to the Catholic Church- bless the Shanghai diocese and we funeral home in Shanghai yesterday. —AFP tre, flanked by mourners and cler- it was home to Xu Guangqi, one of will have new leadership.” —AFP China’s satellite spots possible plane debris More international planes, ships head to remote search zone KUALA LUMPUR: Chinese satellites have spot- Ocean far off Australia’s western coast after satel- Thailand, going over areas in the northern corri- ted a new object in the southern Indian Ocean lite images captured floating objects that inves- dor that have already been exhaustively swept that could be wreckage from a missing tigators believed could be parts of an aircraft. Six to find some clue to unlock one of the biggest Malaysian airliner carrying 239 people, and ships aircraft and two merchant ships have been mysteries in modern aviation. The Pentagon said are on their way to investigate, China and scouring the area, but there were no reports of it was considering a request from Malaysia for Malaysia said yesterday. The object, around 22 any wreckage being found. Australia, which sonar equipment. The P-8 and P-3 spy planes, meters long and 13 meters wide, was spotted announced the first satellite image and is coordi- which the United States is already deploying in early on March 18 around 120 km from a loca- nating the rescue, has cautioned the objects the search, also carry “sonobuoys” that are tion where possible debris was sighted by might be a lost shipping container or other dropped into the sea and use sonar signals to another satellite on March 16 in the remote debris and may have since sunk. “Even though search the waters below. ocean off western Australia, China’s State this is not a definite lead, it is probably more sol- Investigators suspect the Boeing 777 was Administration of Science, Technology and id than any other lead around the world and deliberately diverted thousands of miles from its Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) said on that is why so much effort and interest is being scheduled path. They say they are focusing on BEIJING: US first lady Michelle Obama (second from left) applauds as she its website. The Chinese sighting was first put into this search,” Deputy Prime Minister hijacking or sabotage but have not ruled out and her daughters Malia (third from left), Sasha (fourth from left) and her revealed by Malaysia’s Defense Minister and act- Warren Truss told reporters, before latest technical problems. The search itself has strained mother Marian Robinson (second from right) watch a Peking opera perform- ing Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Chinese report. ties between China and Malaysia, with Beijing ance with a group of American schoolchildren who are visiting China during who was handed a note with details during a According to several people familiar with the repeatedly leaning on the Southeast Asian their spring break. —AP news conference in Kuala Lumpur. matter, India has told Malaysian investigators nation to step up its hunt and do a better job at “Chinese ships have been dispatched to the that it had found no evidence the plane flew looking after the relatives of the Chinese passen- In China, Michelle Obama touts area,” Hishammuddin said. China said an image through its airspace, making the satellite debris gers. of the object had been captured by its high-defi- lead more solid. It was the first formal notifica- For families of the passengers, the process freedom of speech and religion nition earth observation satellite “Gaofen-1”. The tion that India had come up empty-handed after has proved to be an emotionally wrenching bat- location was south by west of the possible checking its radar records, the sources said. tle to elicit information. In a statement yesterday, BEIJING: US First Lady Michelle Obama Buddhists and Muslim Uighurs particularly debris announced by Australia on Thursday, China, Japan and India were sending more relatives in Beijing lambasted a Malaysian dele- yesterday emphasized the importance of fraught. As Obama delivered her remarks in SASTIND said. The latest possible lead in the planes and Australian and Chinese navy vessels gation for “concealing the truth” and “making universal rights, telling a crowd of students Beijing, thousands of mourners in Shanghai hunt for the jetliner comes two weeks after it were also steaming towards the southern zone, fools” out of the families after they said they left in Beijing that freedom of expression and gathered yesterday morning to bid farewell disappeared from civilian radar screens less than more than 2,000 km southwest of Perth. a meeting without answering all their questions. religion should not be determined by one’s to Catholic Bishop Joseph Fan Zhongliang, an hour after taking-off from the Malaysian capi- Weather conditions were good, with 10 km of “This kind of conduct neglects the lives of all the country of birth. Obama, who is on a week- who died last Sunday at age 97. China has a tal on a scheduled flight to Beijing. Searches by visibility, according to officials - a crucial boost passengers, shows contempt for all their fami- long trip to China with her daughters and state-controlled Catholic church, which more than two dozen countries have so far for a search that is relying more on human eyes lies, and even more, tramples on the dignity of mother, has sought to focus on “soft” issues rejects the Vatican’s authority, as well as an turned up little but frustration and fresh ques- than the technical wizardry of the most Chinese people and the Chinese government,” since her arrival in Beijing Thursday night, “underground” church, of which Fan was a tions about Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.