U.S.-China Officials Discuss MIA Cases

April 30, 2010 - Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs Bob Newberry concluded a week-long visit to China today after meeting with Chinese officials to discuss several U.S. MIA cases. China's past cooperation has led to the recovery of U.S. MIA remains from World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War.

During meetings with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and People's Liberation Army officials in Beijing, Newberry shared the details of 19 known American losses about which the Chinese may have knowledge. There were nine cases from World War II, five from the Korean War, and five from the Vietnam War.

Newberry highlighted two of these cases as holding promise for a successful resolution. One involved a C-47 crash in Guangxi near Wei Ming village in 1945. Two Americans and 35 Chinese soldiers perished in the crash and were buried nearby. The site was surveyed by a joint U.S.-China team in August 2009.

Another case he highlighted was a Korean War crash of a B-29 near Dandong in Liaoning Province. Three U.S. crew members were buried in graves there where Chinese citizens have provided details about the burial location. U.S. officials continue to work with Dandong representatives to establish firm plans for further investigations and excavations to recover the remains.

While Newberry was in Beijing, a U.S. team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office was surveying an area of Guangdong in southern China where an American aircraft is believed to have crashed during the Korean War. Details of their findings are yet to be analyzed.

From 1975 to the present, 25 American remains have been identified from all conflicts as a direct result of the support from the PRC, and through agreements signed in 2008 and 2009, there has been progress in archival research, where the PLA has already provided documents related to U.S. air losses in China.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call 703-699-1169.