Pentagon says China agrees to open records relating to missing servicemen

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon says China has agreed to a long-standing request for access to sensitive military records U.S. officials believe might resolve the fate of thousands of American servicemen missing from the Korean War and other Cold War-era conflicts.

Pentagon spokesman Larry Greer says the arrangement is scheduled to be publicly announced Friday in Shanghai.

The deal marks a modest step forward for U.S.-China military relations, which have been strained in recent years, in part by sharp U.S. criticism of China's military buildup.

China has periodically co-operated with the Pentagon on matters related to the search for servicemen missing in action, but it has balked at repeated requests to open its military archives.

China entered the Korean War on North Korea's side in the fall of 1950 and succeeded in driving U.S. forces out of the north.

Chinese troops killed and captured thousands of American troops and managed many of the PoW camps established in North Korea during the war. More than 8,100 U.S. servicemen are still unaccounted for from the Korean War.

Greer said that at least initially, U.S. researchers will not have direct access to Chinese records. Instead, Chinese archivists with security clearances acceptable to the People's Liberation Army will do the document searches and turn over relevant records to U.S. analysts.

Details such as the frequency and volume of the document searches, as well as expenses, are yet to be worked out, Greer said.

In January 1998, then defence secretary William Cohen asked top Chinese officials to open archival records. He got no explicit assurances at the time, but in follow-up contacts since, the Chinese have said they would be willing to consider making some arrangement.

© The Canadian Press, 2008