The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference (APEC) was founded in 1989 as an informal dialog group with limited participation by ministers and cabinet-level officials in the Asian-Pacific region, and rose to world prominence in Seattle in 1993 when President Clinton endorsed the organization and used it for what is now an annual summit meeting of Asian and Pacific leaders. The group has since become the main vehicle for promoting open trade and economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

In this image a group of men holds signs and speaks against China's human rights record during a demonstration held outside the Federal Courthouse in Seattle on the day before the APEC conference. Several of the signs reference the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing on June 4, 1989, during which Chinese troops with assault rifles and tanks killed hundreds of demonstrators, most of whom were students advocating for greater accountability, constitutional due process, democracy, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech.

One of the individuals in this image is identified as Ye Kuo Rong, a member of the Alliance of Democratic Chinese who was once a political prisoner, spending five years in a Chinese prison. Mr. Rong is just visible in the background, standing behind the top right corner of the sign reading, "Support Human Rights in China."

Caption information sources: https://www.apec.org/About-Us/About-APEC/History; "President Clinton convenes APEC summit on Blake Island on November 20, 1993," by Walt Crowley, HistoryLink.org Essay 5333; and "Blake Island — Thumbnail History," by Daryl C. McClary, HistoryLink.org Essay 5491.
Caption information source: The Seattle Times, "A Region's Leaders Catch Up To History - World's Most Integrated Economies Get Even Closer," November 21, 1993, p. A1; and "APEC is Growing After Small Beginning," November 15, 1998, p. A2.
Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff.