A senior US defense officer expressed in Beijing Friday his appreciation of China's humanitarian assistance to US efforts in accounting for missing Americans in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Robert Jones, US deputy assistant secretary of defense in charge of prisoner of war/missing personnel affairs, is currently in Beijing accompanying six US Korean War veterans for a meeting with their Chinese counterparts from the Chinese Volunteers.

According to Jones at Friday's press conference, during the Veteran-to-Veteran exchange, hosted by the Chinese Red Cross Society, veterans from both countries "frankly" exchanged views and their experiences during the war. Jones expressed the hope that the exchange would finally help assisting the US in accounting for the missing in action (MIA) Americans.

On Friday morning, the US veterans toured the military museum, and Jones believed that the exhibits there were quite informative and some would be further followed up so as to see whether they would be of assistance.

Jones voiced appreciation of China's cooperation in helping accounting for missing Americans during war conflicts, referring to the fruitful cooperation concerning the recovery of remains of US military personnel killed during Word War II and the Vietnam War.

He believed that the current veteran-to-veteran exchange would be a good start for cooperation in accounting for MIA Americans during the Korean War.

(Xinhua 01/12/2001)