Opening of FBI office in Wellington ‘slightly ironic’

The establishment of a permanent FBI office in Wellington has been described by a Dunedin international relations authority as "slightly ironic", given the Trump administration is going out of its way to "undermine the rule of law internationally".

FBI director Kash Patel officially opened the new legal attache office at the United States embassy yesterday.

He is the most senior member of the US administration to visit New Zealand since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term in office.

Minister Responsible for the GCSB and NZSIS Judith Collins and Police Minister Mark Mitchell said the opening of the office demonstrated the strength of the Five Eyes partnership and enhanced the safety and security of New Zealanders.

"We exchanged a range of insights on areas such as transnational organised crime, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity and espionage," Ms Collins said.

Mr Mitchell said it should send a clear message to criminals whose offending caused harm in our communities that wherever they were, they could not hide behind an international border.

"New Zealand police are continually working with their overseas counterparts like the FBI to catch those engaged in illegal, harmful activities such as drug smuggling and online child exploitation, as well disrupting and preventing this offending from happening in the first place."

University of Otago professor of international relations Robert Patman said the move was being hailed by both Ms Collins and Mr Patel as a way to strengthen the rule of law internationally.

But a lot of people were concerned it might actually be an intrusion by the US, Prof Patman said.

"The thing that’s slightly ironic about it is that the Trump administration doesn’t share our world view and doesn’t believe in an international rules-based order as we understand it.

"The United States itself, with its territorial claims against Canada, against Greenland, its imposition of tariffs, have amongst other things actually undermined the rule of law internationally.

"So it seems a selective approach to law enforcement or rules enforcement."

Prof Patman said when it came to law enforcement, "you do have to walk the talk".

"Adherence to rules and laws starts at the very top, and threatening a country with annexation such as the Trump administration has with Canada - another Five Eyes member - doesn’t really set a very inspiring example for the Five Eyes.

"It seems to me, trade protectionism - some of the unilateral imposition of tariffs - is not consistent with the observance of a rules-based order.

"If you’re going to take legal processes seriously, you actually have to walk the talk with respect to international law."