A spat between Canada and Australia is heating up as Australian officials signal they will block Canada's admission to Asia's premier security forum, the East Asia Summit, amid tensions over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. An Australian news report suggests that country's leadership has already rejected Canada's application to participate in the key forum because Australian trade officials were "gobsmacked" by Canada's behaviour on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) last week in Vietnam. Trudeau made a pitch for EAS membership on the last day of his eight-day swing through the region. A report in the Australian Financial Review cites a senior unnamed Australian official as saying that "EAS and APEC members are weighing up why Canada should be added to EAS following the TPP. Under Trudeau, Canada has increased its advocacy to join the EAS, but adding Canada is not on the EAS agenda."

Source: CBC News November 20, 2017 20:45 UTC