Apec’s daft statement: How the ‘silly-shirts’ photo became a diplomatic mainstay

The Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summits, which draw the presidents of China, the United States and 19 other regional leaders, are sometimes memorable for just one moment: the leaders posing for a group photo in unexpected attire.

Former US president Bill Clinton started the tradition in 1993, when he handed out leather bomber jackets similar to those worn by American fighter pilots. The US leader apparently wanted his fellow VIPs to feel relaxed at the meetings.

Dubbed the “silly shirts” photo by some, the occasionally awkward ceremony became a signature event at most annual Apec gatherings, elevating native garb of the host countries to a brief moment of world fame.

The 21 Apec leaders have posed for together in batik shirts (Malaysia in 1998), Chinese jackets (Shanghai 2001), flowing ponchos (Chile 2004) and in Vietnamese “ao dai” — elegant silken tunics in which several of the leaders were visibly ill at ease — in 2006.

The tradition had a three-year hiatus — in Yokohama, Japan, in 2010, Hawaii in 2011 and Vladivostok, Russia, in 2012 — when the leaders donned regular Western business attire.