China agrees to share records on MIAs with U.S.

SHANGHAI, China (AP) — A window has opened for families of the 8,100 American servicemen missing since the Korean War, with China agreeing Friday to allow access to sensitive military records — but only to Chinese researchers at first.

In another sign of warming U.S.-China military ties, the two countries also agreed to set up a military hot line for communicating in emergencies, a step long sought by the U.S. to build trust.

and transparency in their relations.

“We’re very happy to be able to finally move this forward,” said David Sedney, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asian Security Affairs. The agreement came at the end of annual defense talks between the two nations in Shanghai.

Progress on the U.S.-China “defense telephone link” had been slow since China committed publicly to it last summer. The line is expected to be operating in a month’s time between U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his Chinese counterpart.