NZ Government willing to deport murder suspect if death penalty ruled out

John Key says NZ could possibly deport a murder suspect back to China, if the death penalty was ruled out. Photo / Getty Images

The Chinese Government wants New Zealand to deport a murder suspect back to China to face charges and Prime Minister John Key says it's possible, if the death penalty is ruled out.

It was a decision to be made by Justice Minister Amy Adams.

Speaking with reporters last night in Manila, Mr Key revealed more details about the case ahead of his meeting today with China's president Xi Jinping at the Apec summit.

The case is that of Kyung Yup Kim, a Korean-born New Zealand resident who is facing charges in China over the death of a woman in Shanghai in December 2009.

He returned to New Zealand in June 2011 and has been held in custody since then, making several unsuccessful legal challenges to extradition.

He revealed in August that the Government wanted the return of a person to face trial. That person was not a Chinese national.

Yesterday Mr Key said the suspect was accused of killing another person.

"It's a long and complicated case."

Mr Key said there had been no deportations of Chinese suspected of fleeing to New Zealand with the proceeds of corruption, although background work had been done on the issue, and it was raised during the official visit of President Xi to New Zealand a year ago.

Mr Key said he would raise at the meeting the issues of China's territorial disputes (with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei) in the South China Sea.

China has recently expanded atolls through reclamation in the Spratly group and built airfields.

"We will be doing and making the same consistent comments that we make which is we don't arbitrate with these issues," said Mr Key. "We don't pick sides but it is a very important passage of waterway to us and we do want to see a peaceful resolution to the issue.

"To a certain extent it is the elephant in the room. It is there and the reclamations have been fairly significant, so it is raising the temperature on that issue."

The Vietnamese Prime Minister had raised the issue when Mr Key had talks with him in Hanoi on Monday.

Mr Key laughed off a newspaper article on the English language newspaper Viet Nam News in which he was described in a photo as the president of the Senate of the Czech Republic, Milan Stech.

"It is all part of my global master-plan to increase my sphere of influence and make you all believe I have so many more people under my control."