Trusting China to give a fair trial sets a worrying precedent for extradition in New Zealand

After the New Zealand supreme court gave the go-ahead for the extradition of Kyung Yup Kim to China, it is now up to the justice minister to make a final decision. Photograph: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

A majority of the New Zealand supreme court recently endorsed its government’s view that China can be trusted to respect the human rights of the criminally accused and give them a fair trial.

While this ruling involved some rather technical matters of administrative law, it cannot be divorced from the larger geopolitical picture.