Asia Meeting Gains Heft

The annual Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit offers presidents and prime ministers of 21 member countries, including the United States, a chance to size each other up and measure resolve on important issues. After Sept. 11 and the bombings in Afghanistan, there should be no doubt about U.S. resolve. Nor could other countries have missed the U.S. desire to hold together the coalition to stop Osama bin Laden and other terrorists.

The APEC forum, starting Friday in Shanghai, will also allow President Bush to reemphasize to nations with large numbers of Muslims, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, that the fight is against terror, not Islam. Both Indonesia and Malaysia have wrestled with Islamic fundamentalist movements, mostly without violence. But both have experienced kidnappings and other forms of terror, as has the Philippines. Their leaders can offer tactical insights and fraternal understanding.

Bush’s original itinerary included stops in Japan and South Korea, plus meetings with Chinese leaders in Beijing. After Sept. 11 he reduced the trip to just a few days in Shanghai but will still hold one-on-one meetings with leaders including Presidents Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Jiang Zemin of China. Both were quick to offer support in the campaign against terrorism, and both face Muslim dissidents within their borders.

Bush has met Putin before, proclaiming that he found the Russian leader trustworthy. But this will be his first meeting with Jiang, and it comes after a difficult period in U.S.-China relations that included the downing of a U.S. Navy surveillance plane on Hainan island and Beijing’s loud objections to U.S. sales of weaponry to Taiwan. Bush was cool toward China in his political campaign last year, but because of the support Beijing offered after the terrorist attacks, the Chinese expect him to display a warmer attitude in Shanghai. Chinese arms sales to Pakistan are less likely to be a bone of contention now that Washington has lifted sanctions against Islamabad.

Trade will still be an important topic, if no longer No. 1. Given the global slowdown before the terrorist attacks and the increasing slump since then, Pacific Rim countries will only make matters worse if they try to retreat behind broad trade barriers. After the Asian economic crisis several years ago, countries such as South Korea bounced back by widening the door to foreign investment.

Individual meetings between heads of state are likely to be heavy on symbolism, but there is room for substantive discussion about attacking terrorism financially, politically and militarily. Washington needs help freezing bank accounts and tracking movements of suspected terrorists. It can offer intelligence information and other forms of assistance in return. Past summits often were more about image than achievement, but this one has a chance to produce valuable support for a necessary campaign.