By Zhang Haizhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-02-29 07:28

China said yesterday it would continue offering assistance to the United States in the ongoing search for remains of missing Korean War servicemen.

"China and the US always keep good cooperation on this issue," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular briefing.

"We have kept assisting the US to search the remains of its missing soldiers on domestic soil in the spirit of humanitarianism for years."

In a concerted bid to find lost soldiers, China and the US reached consensus on archival cooperation when China's vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission traveled to the US in 2006 and when US Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited China last November.

"Relevant departments of both sides were consulting on concrete issues of launching such cooperation," Liu added.

The Pentagon said on Tuesday that China had agreed to a long-standing request for access to sensitive military records which US officials believe might resolve the fate of thousands of American servicemen missing from the Korean War and other Cold War-era conflicts.

The US consulate in Shanghai is scheduled to announce the arrangement today.

Analysis said the deal marks a modest step forward in US-China military relations.

China entered the Korean War in the fall of 1950 and succeeded in helping drive US-led forces out of the North.

The war, which ended in 1953, led to the deaths of thousands of US troops - many of whom are still unaccounted for.

The deal implements the goodwill of both sides' military and political leaders to cooperate on defense issues, according to Chinese analysts.

"Military is a most sensitive issue in Sino-US relations and such a deal marks an improving atmosphere for both armies to cooperate in the future," says Major General Yang Yi of National Defense University.

"It also marks a rise in bilateral relations at large and such cooperation is helpful to enhance mutual understanding, as it means a lot for the US people," he added.

(China Daily 02/29/2008 page11)