In a further backlash from China, the country's online travel agencies have reportedly stopped selling tickets for flights on Malaysia Airlines. According to the South China Morning Post, several of China's top agencies said they will boycott MAS until it "gets to the bottom of the truth on Flight MH370". Agencies which no longer provide MAS flights as an option include leading agencies eLong, LY.com and Qunar. However, the daily reported that Ctrip.com, the country's largest online travel agency, is still selling MAS tickets due to "objections raised by the sales department". Meanwhile, Reuters reported that anger from China is not likely to have long-term impact on bilateral relations as both countries have too much to lose from their thriving economic relationship. "There's a lot of public relations to be done, a lot of re-engagement. There will be a dramatic dip in the relations in the sense," a foreign policy specialist at Malaysia's Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Tang Siew Mun, is quoted as saying. "This adverse affect should be short-term," said Tan. "It is not to the advantage of the Chinese government to let this carry on." BN's Pulai MP Nur Jazlan Mohamed also told the newswire that the relationship between Malaysia and China, which entered its 40th year today, is "quite strong". "So I don't know why they are acting like this, maybe it's convenient," the Umno MP said. Malaysiakini
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