KEVIN RUDD’s Big Idea is for an “Asia-Pacific Community” (APC). Australia’s prime minister argues that as the centre of gravity of the world economy moves from the Atlantic to the Pacific, so the Asia-Pacific region needs the institutional structures to handle the economic and strategic implications of this shift. It is hard to know whether to admire Mr Rudd more for his big idea or for his dogged grit in sticking with it in the face of a decidedly iffy reception around the region.

Mr Rudd now claims progress, thanks in part to the tireless efforts of his special envoy, Dick Woolcott, a well-regarded diplomat. Though it has not been announced, in early December Mr Rudd intends to convene a conference in Sydney at which he hopes that politicians and opinion leaders from 21 Asian countries will start to put flesh on the APC's bones.

Though in public Mr Rudd does not put it so bluntly, probably the chief rationale of an APC is to handle China's rise, while keeping the United States engaged in the region. So it will be interesting to observe China's commitment to the conference. You see, the Dalai Lama intends to be in Sydney at exactly the same time.