Beijing launched 10 satellites, supposedly to conduct a photographic survey of areas including the South China Sea which could reveal the whereabouts of MH370 (or its wreckage).
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It then released photographs of some objects picked up in the area where MH370 made its last report to ATC. Intelligence analysts believe the photos are probably degraded versions of the actual photographs its satellites took, to mask its true space intelligence gathering capability.
The Malay Mail Online's In search for MH370, why did China take so long to release satellite photos? reported:
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Morris Jones, an independent space analyst based in Australia, said Beijing’s disclosure of the pictures was surprisingly open.
“Satellite imagery is a strategic tool that has military applications, and nations are usually very cautious in revealing how much these satellites can do and how much they can see,” he told AFP.
“I am surprised that the Chinese have openly released this image because we don’t normally see images of this quality.” [...]
Jones said he did not find “anything suspicious at all” in the delay in releasing the pictures.
“There’s a lot of time you go through between the time you get the images and the time you release them,” he said.
“The satellite has to get into position, take the photo, then relay it to a ground station, then it has to be analysed. And keep in mind, the analysts on the ground are probably looking through a tremendous amount of data. So I would say there’s absolutely nothing abnormal.”
Vietnamese and Malaysian planes scanned waters where a Chinese government agency website said a satellite had photographed three "suspicious floating objects" on Sunday.
The location was close to where the plane, flight MH370, lost contact with air traffic control.
Aircraft repeatedly circled the area over the South China Sea but were unable to detect any objects, said a Reuters journalist, who was aboard one of the planes.
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It then released photographs of some objects picked up in the area where MH370 made its last report to ATC. Intelligence analysts believe the photos are probably degraded versions of the actual photographs its satellites took, to mask its true space intelligence gathering capability.
The Malay Mail Online's In search for MH370, why did China take so long to release satellite photos? reported:
Morris Jones, an independent space analyst based in Australia, said Beijing’s disclosure of the pictures was surprisingly open.
“Satellite imagery is a strategic tool that has military applications, and nations are usually very cautious in revealing how much these satellites can do and how much they can see,” he told AFP.
“I am surprised that the Chinese have openly released this image because we don’t normally see images of this quality.” [...]
Jones said he did not find “anything suspicious at all” in the delay in releasing the pictures.
“There’s a lot of time you go through between the time you get the images and the time you release them,” he said.
“The satellite has to get into position, take the photo, then relay it to a ground station, then it has to be analysed. And keep in mind, the analysts on the ground are probably looking through a tremendous amount of data. So I would say there’s absolutely nothing abnormal.”
Indeed, why has China released those photographs (albeit with deliberate degrading) which would reveal to its chief potential foes (USA, Japan) its intelligence gathering capability, when it could easily resort to a phone call to inform Malaysia and/or Vietnam of the position(s) of those items photographed by its satellites?
Incidentally, Malaysiakini's Search planes find no sign of MH370 off Vietnam reported:
Vietnamese and Malaysian planes scanned waters where a Chinese government agency website said a satellite had photographed three "suspicious floating objects" on Sunday.
The location was close to where the plane, flight MH370, lost contact with air traffic control.
Aircraft repeatedly circled the area over the South China Sea but were unable to detect any objects, said a Reuters journalist, who was aboard one of the planes.
I'm not surprised because I'm still convinced MH370 flew on past Pulau Perak towards the west as I posted in Where is MH370, or where MH370 is?
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| Pulau Perak, Malaysia's most western point manned by armed forces personnel There are 400 steep steps from bottom to the barracks Wonder how's the fishing there? But there's ample time and opportunity for a wee cardio-exercising running up and then going down the steps for another run up, etc Not much else those soldiers can do |
Here are some dot-points on kaytee's belief re China's actions:
- The whole exercise, launching 10 satellites, revealing the photographs with claims of spotting items which might be those from MH370, etc, have been a Chinese government (PR) exercise for domestic consumption, principally to appease its grieving, angry and impatient public.
- China has been under enormous pressure from its public as revealed by Malaysiakini's Search planes find no sign of MH370 off Vietnam, which tells us that ...
... China heaped pressure on Malaysia to improve its coordination over the search for the Boeing 777, which disappeared early on Saturday on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Of the 239 people on board, up to 154 were Chinese.
Premier Li Keqiang, speaking at a news conference in Beijing, demanded that the "relevant party" step up coordination while China's civil aviation chief said he wanted a "smoother" flow of information from Malaysia, which has come under heavy criticism for its handling of the disaster. - That has been why it was prepared to even reveal its defence satellite (albeit degraded) photos.
In a way, the exercise shows that the Chinese government is quite sensitive as well as responsive to public feelings. It has to be seen to be acting on the missing Chinese passengers in a way that's above and beyond normal call of duty.
The latest TMI headlines China will persist in its search for MH370, says China PM confirms my belief.
And that's supposedly a communist authoritarian government. Hope our democratic Westminster-style government can learn something about being responsive to the Malaysian rakyat.
Read also TMI's In China, family members ramp up pressure over missing plane
Read also TMI's In China, family members ramp up pressure over missing plane