Sizing up newest and youngest guy on the block

He is the youngest delegate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Leaders’ Meeting in Manila and immediately drew attention for being almost a full generation behind the 60-year-old average age of his Pacific Rim peers.

Not surprisingly, newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, 43, brought a dash of vitality to an annual forum whose most concrete outcome is usually a photo op of mainly middle-aged men in funky shirts.

Tall and trim, Trudeau exudes the star power of his father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, whose charisma often drew comparisons to John F. Kennedy.

US President Barack Obama praised the younger Trudeau on Thursday after they spoke on the sidelines of the Apec meetings, describing him as a “great boost of energy” for Canadian politics, having been installed on a liberal agenda at odds with his conservative predecessor, Stephen Harper.

He also ribbed the fresh-faced Trudeau over how the responsibilities of leadership can age a person.

“I know Canadians are incredibly inspired by your message of hope and change,” Obama said. “I just want to point out that I had no gray hair when I was in your shoes seven years ago,” the US leader said, adding: “And so if you don’t want to gray like me, you need to start dyeing it soon.”

Standing with Obama, Trudeau retorted: “So young, and yet so cynical.”

Recently seen in Canada trick-or-treating with his wife and young children, Trudeau is 26 years younger than the Sultan of Brunei who, at 69, is the oldest of the 21 Apec leaders meeting in Manila this week.

Second hottest

On the tongue-in-cheek online “Hottest heads of state list,” Trudeau ranks second, at 34 percent of votes, way behind the king of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, who garnered a 61-percent support.

But Trudeau was way ahead of the next most admired Apec leader, Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto, who took only 3 percent of the vote. The rankings of other regional leaders stretched from No. 11, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, to No. 197, Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In Manila, slots to cover Trudeau’s appearance at a business forum were hotly contested by local reporters keen to see the Apec newcomer.

“Girls  have eyes only for Trudeau, Nieto,” an Inquirer headline gushed on Wednesday.

“The Internet has found a reason to care about the Apec summit,” tweeted online publication GlobalPost, using “APEChottie” as a hashtag.

Back home, Canada’s prime minister is enjoying a reprise of “Trudeaumania,” the wave of popularity that swept his father into office in 1968 and kept him there, with a short break, until 1984.

Sworn in two weeks ago, Trudeau has made a point of breaking with the ways of his predecessor, Harper, who sought to roll back Canada’s reputation for liberalism during nearly a decade in office.

But it’s unclear if Trudeau will end up making any major changes of stance from those held by Harper during the Apec meet, as the economic forum is also known for making statements that are nonbinding.

Trade agreement

Trudeau favors Canada’s ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade agreement championed by Obama and meant to become the core of a regionwide free-trade bloc. A final deal was struck last month after years of delays and now leaders must win the approval of their own governments for it to become a reality.

In his youth and liberalism, Trudeau has been likened to Obama who, at 54, is more than a decade older.

Nieto is 49. The leaders of Russia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Peru are all in their early to mid-50s, while the rest of the Pacific Rim leaders are in their early 60s or older.

Though events like the annual Pacific Rim summit are staged in minute detail, the “informal” discussions will give the leaders further time to size up the new guy on the block, following the weekend meetings of the Group of 20 industrial nations in Turkey.      AP

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TAGS: Apec 2015, Features, Global Nation