President Clinton played host this past weekend to 13 Asian-Pacific leaders on a remote island a few miles off the coast of Seattle. His gains were mostly symbolic, with the hope of more tangible results next year in Indonesia. As Secretary of State Warren Christopher put it, "The meeting was the message."

Clinton was just happy to have such a powerful group, representing 50 percent of the world's economic output, together in one place to discuss economic cooperation.Although the group was created in 1989 at the instigation of Australia to begin informal annual conversations over trade disputes, this was the first time the heads of state attended. In fact, it was the biggest gathering of Asian and Pacific leaders since President Lyndon Johnson convened a sum-mit meeting in 1966 in Manila to enlist support for the Vietnam War.

But this was a striking contrast to the usual East-West get-togethers that dominated global politics during the Cold War. At the Seattle meeting, the issue was not the balance of power but the balance of trade.

There was an unusual combination of vision and ambiguity surrounding the meeting. A "vision statement" was issued at the end that was long on vision and short on specifics.

It pledged to "build a new economic foundation for the Asia-Pacific that harnesses the energy of our diverse economies, strengthens cooperation and promotes prosperity."

Clinton was hoping to make sure that America is not locked out of this emerging Asian market, which is growing twice as fast as Europe.

In addition to the desire to expand trade, the American agenda also included efforts to promote democracy and stem missile proliferation - mostly with China in mind. But the Chinese were something of a disappointment.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin gave no ground at all on human rights. With the Chinese now running a $19 billion trade surplus with Washington and doing business in almost all 50 states, they seem increasingly confident that Congress will not strip them of their trade benefits. They think it would cost too many jobs in too many parts of America.

Also, with China's principal leader, Deng Xiaoping, in deteriorating health, and with the jostling for succession well under way, no one official apparently is in a position to make any commitments.

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Jiang Zemin probably acted more as a conduit to his colleagues in Beijing than as a decisionmaker. If that is the case, the real meaning of the talks between Jiang and Clinton will not be apparent for weeks or even months. But at least it was a beginning.

Unfortunately for Clinton, most of the leaders were not sold on the early creation of a Pacific free-trade zone.

Such a zone would include the world's three largest economies - the United States, Japan and China - and account for half of the world's gross national product as well as 40 percent of world trade.

Although the symbolic gains of the conference were interesting, it will take time and patience to see any solid answers to the issues discussed. But in economic terms, there is enormous potential for growth for all of the nations involved.

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