China and U.S. sign accord on defense hotline

By Lindsay Beck

BEIJING (Reuters) - China and the United States formally agreed on Friday a long-planned hotline to improve communication between their two militaries.

Leaders of both countries agreed to establish a direct telephone link for quick communication in times of crisis during the APEC summit last September, and the issue was further discussed during a visit to China two months later by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

"The agreement will allow us to move forward on installing the actual equipment in the next few weeks," the Department of Defense said in a statement.

"We anticipate the DTL (defense telephone link) will become operational this month," it said.

The agreement was signed in Shanghai, following talks between David Sedney, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia, and Chinese defense ministry official Qian Lihua.

The two countries also agreed a second accord on sharing archives with an aim to finding the remains of U.S. military personnel missing in the 1950-53 Korean War.

Military relations between China and the United States hit a low in 2001 when they broke off contact following a collision between a Chinese fighter jet and a U.S. spy plane.

Ties have improved markedly since then and the two have hosted joint military exercises in the past year, but mistrust and miscommunications still dog relations.