On March 8, 2014, Malaysian Airlines announced that a Boeing 777-200 flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing lost contact with aviation authorities. Among the 277 passengers were 24 Chinese artists and calligraphers from Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Xinjiang, and elsewhere; the missing include Meng Gaosheng (vice-chairman of the China Calligraphers Association), Wang Linshi and Liu Rusheng. According to reports, they had participated in the cultural exchange exhibition “The Chinese Dream—Ode to Painting” (Zhongguo Meng—Danqing Song) held on March 5 in Kuala Lumpur on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia. The delegation then boarded the missing Malaysian Airlines flight. On March 9, Malaysian Airlines met with the relatives of the passengers and held a press conference at Lido Hotel in Beijing, providing updates every 15 minutes on the search and rescue efforts. At the time of publication, the missing aircraft is still out of contact.
Chinese Artists and Calligraphers on Missing Malaysian Airline Flight
