MANILA, Philippines — Justin Trudeau landed in the Philippines on Sunday with the goal of raising Canada’s profile in the Asia-Pacific region, especially on security issues and trade. “Canada has never been there before.”The ASEAN summit itself will give Trudeau an opportunity to advance his trade agenda with the emerging bloc of 10 Southeast Asian countries, which is already Canada’s sixth-largest trading partner. “We are very much positioning ourselves in the Asia-Pacific,” International Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in an interview before Trudeau left for his week-long trip to the region. On Saturday, Trudeau was asked whether he intended to challenge Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte about the deadly, anti-drug crackdown by security forces in his country. Trudeau has said he has no one-on-one meeting planned with Duterte, who will host the ASEAN summit.

Source: National Post November 12, 2017 16:52 UTC