A little less than a year ago, leaders of the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum gathered for their annual summit in the sleepy north Borneo sultanate of Brunei. The delegates issued some woefully inaccurate forecasts for economic growth, groused about the lack of progress on international-trade negotiations and fretted about the host country's lack of alcohol. The Russians, in particular, were said to have missed the liquor and dispatched a lowly official every day to the Malaysian border to top up their supplies.
Then-United States president Bill Clinton was there, enjoying the twilight of his presidency. He joked about which man - George W. Bush or Al Gore - would succeed him in the White House. Mr Clinton even made time for a midnight round of golf with his longtime buddy Goh Chok Tong, Singapore's Prime Minister.
This year's Apec circus starts today in Shanghai, but it is certain to be very different from the party in Bandar Seri Begawan. As with many other events, the summit's planned trajectory has been altered by the devastating attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon and the events in Afghanistan. 'Terrorism' will now be the focus, even if Apec's raison d'etre is the management of trade relations among such varied economies as Canada, Chile, Japan, Papua New Guinea and Russia. As the first important gathering of world leaders since the September 11 attacks, this week's Apec summit could be more significant than many that preceded it, if only through a quirk of timing.
During their preparations, US officials have been at pains to restate their commitment to the grouping and to suggest that its activities are more relevant in the wake of the bombings. 'This will be an excellent opportunity for the region of Asia Pacific to show that we are working together to combat this problem,' said Lawrence Greenwood, US ambassador for Apec. 'We make no apologies about having the counter-terrorism effort be the number-one priority.'
Others have joined the chorus. Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who plans to be in Shanghai despite fighting an election at home, said from the campaign trail that it would be 'an opportunity for the president of the US, the president of Russia, the prime minister of Japan and the president of Indonesia to join in a declaration and a concerted statement against terrorism.'
More succinctly, Mexican President Vicente Fox said: 'We want to get to work.'
That work, as Mr Fox put it, is spread over a full week in a city which has been scrubbed clean to present its best face to the world. On the formal agenda are several days of senior officials' sessions, which pave the way for ministerial-level meetings and, at the weekend, the main leaders' summit.
