Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is facing a night of tricky top level talks in the Philippines, negotiating a series of tough issues with world leaders at the East Asia summit.
The top level gathering is a meeting of leaders from the East Asia region and others including New Zealand, Canada and the US.
While most focus on regional security in Manila, Ms Ardern is expected to butt heads with Canada over trade and Australia over refugees.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ms Ardern are the fresh faced new generation of world leaders and had their first meeting this afternoon.
"We have an awful lot to talk about and I'm really really pleased that you can be here and to congratulate you," Mr Trudeau told Ms Ardern.
Ms Ardern responded to her Canadian counterpart: "Very excited to have the conversation. And I'm going to put you in the awkward position of inviting you to New Zealand."
But the smiles at their first meeting cloak a tense undercurrent. New Zealand's delegation is still seething over Canada's bold TPP brinkmanship in Vietnam.
But for other world leaders in Manila, their discussions are not focussed on trade.
"Overall, my expectation is that this summit will focus heavily on security issues, regional security," Ms Ardern told reporters.
US President Donald Trump will be at the fore of those discussions given his on-going exchanges with the North Korean leader.
Left wing and student protesters on the streets are furious that Trump is in Manila for the ASEAN summit, and want him dumped.
The protesters also have a message for Ms Ardern who's meeting Philippine's firebrand leader Rodrigo Duterte and says she'll raise concerns over his mass purge and killing of drug dealers.
But Ms Ardern's tensest meeting was predicted to be with Australia's Malcolm Turnbull.
Papua New Guinea's government says more than 400 men have to leave the Manus Island detention centre today or face force.
"I'll be raising with Prime Minister Turnbull, as I have consistently done, that we have grave concerns over the situation on Manus Island," Ms Ardern said.
She has since said she has talked to Mr Turnbull "in passing" about the issue, but would not elaborate and said she would update journalists when she had something substantial to say on the matter.
Conditions at the detention centre are dire, with no running water, electricity or medicine.
But the men, many of whom were trying to get to Australia, say new centres aren't ready and fear a fierce local backlash if they move.
Australia is facing international pressure to intervene and Ms Ardern is adding to that by repeating an already rejected offer to take 150 men from Manus and Nauru.
National's Foreign Affairs spokesman Gerry Brownlee says New Zealand's offer to take 150 is an offer to help and is not solving the problem.
"It has to be a decision that the Australians make, not one that we can force on them, or embarrass them into," he said.
Whilst Ms Ardern rubs shoulders with super powers on the world stage, Mr Brownlee's statement is a warning to not rub her closest friend and neighbour the wrong way.
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