The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Beijing

China and the United States formally agreed on Friday a long-planned hotline to improve communication between their two militaries, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The agreement to establish a direct telephone link for quick communication in times of crisis was made during a visit to China last year by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Xinhua gave no other details on the agreement, which it said was signed in Shanghai, along with 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.

The U.S. embassy in Beijing had no comment, referring reporters to the Pentagon.

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.

In November last year, China blocked a long-planned Thanksgiving visit to Hong Kong by a U.S. aircraft carrier group, the USS Kitty Hawk. Beijing later changed its mind and said the ships could dock, but by then the group was heading back to its home port in Japan.

China has refused to be drawn on its reasons for initially barring the Kitty Hawk from Hong Kong.