Washington - The US fighter jets which will escort President Bush into Shanghai today speak volumes about the changed dynamic of world politics, reports Patrick Smyth. The last US military plane to approach Chinese territorial waters was forced down, provoking a major crisis and a serious chilling of relations between the US and China.
Today, Mr Bush - and his jets - will be welcomed as an honoured guest to both China and the summit of the 21-nation Asia Pacific Economic Conference.
Mr Bush may well be bringing sweeteners. Hoping to encourage serous exchanges of intelligence with China on terrorism, the word is that Mr Bush is considering a waiver on sanctions imposed in 1989 after the Tiananmen Square massacre. These ban the sale of military-related equipment to the Chinese security forces.
Such a waiver would clear the way for the US to sell spare parts for Black Hawk helicopters which the US sold to China during the 1980s.
Having come into office calling China a "strategic competitor", Mr Bush is now focusing on Beijing as a potential partner in the war against terrorism. Since the September 11th attacks, China has strengthened already vigilant patrols of its small western border with Afghanistan and offered to share intelligence information, US military officials say. The trip to the gathering of Asian-Pacific leaders takes Mr Bush out of the country for five days.