China launched a counter lawsuit against the U.S. state of Missouri for over $50 billion and an apology from major American news outlets for causing “economic and reputational threat” with allegations related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
China’s Wuhan city, where Covid-19 was first detected, mounted the legal challenge after Missouri filed a lawsuit against China for hoarding personal protective equipment in the early months of the pandemic.
A federal judge gave a ruling in favour of Missouri earlier this year after China declined to participate in the trial. It called the lawsuit "very absurd" when it was filed in 2020.
According to court documents, China’s lawsuit was filed by the municipal government of Wuhan, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The lawsuit accused Missouri and several U.S. officials of damaging China’s reputation and “soft power”, particularly that of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
It named three defendants, including the state of Missouri, U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt, and Missouri’s former Attorney General Andrew Bailey.
It alleged that the three parties “fabricated numerous disinformation”, provided fictional evidence of losses and slandered various disinformation about China, including that it obstruct investigation into the origin of the virus, and covered up the information related to the virus.
It said that politicising Covid-19 and stigmatising China has caused reputation damage and “profound and extremely enormous losses” to the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit also accused the state of “deeply endangering sovereignty, security and development interests of China” through its “vexatious” litigation.
China is demanding public apologies in major U.S. and Chinese media outlets, including the New York Times, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, YouTube and other American media or internet platforms,
It is also demanding compensation of about $50.5 billion as well as any legal fees which occur, and the right to claim further compensation.
The three Chinese plaintiffs were among the defendants in a lawsuit filed five years ago by Schmitt, then Missouri’s Attorney General, against China, the Chinese Communist Party, several national ministries and the Hubei provincial government.
The lawsuit alleged that Chinese officials were to blame for the pandemic.
In 2022, the American lawsuit took an unusual turn when U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh initially dismissed the lawsuit, saying Missouri couldn't sue China, its Communist Party and seven other government or scientific agencies.
But an appeals court allowed one part of the lawsuit to proceed: the allegation that China hoarded personal protective equipment, such as respirator masks, medical gowns, and gloves.
After Chinese officials didn't respond, Judge Limbaugh accepted Missouri's estimate of past and potential future damages of more than $8 billion, tripled it as federal law allows, and added 3.91 percent interest until it's collected.
Last month, Missouri escalated its efforts to collect, asking the U.S. State Department to formally notify China that the state intends to pursue assets with full or partial Chinese government ownership to satisfy the judgment.
Catherine Hanaway, who inherited the lawsuit when she was appointed state Attorney General, said it was a “stalling tactic”.
“I find it extremely telling that the Chinese blame our great state for ‘belittling the social evaluation’ of The Wuhan Institute of Virology. This lawsuit is a stalling tactic and tells me that we have been on the right side of this issue all along,” said Attorney General Hanaway.
“We stand undeterred in our mission to collect on our $24 billion judgment that was lawfully handed down in federal court.”
Schmitt, a close ally of Trump who remains banned by the Chinese government, said he will “wear it like a badge of honor”.
“China’s sinister malfeasance during the COVID-19 pandemic led to over a million Americans losing their lives, economic turmoil that rocked our country for years, and an enormous amount of human suffering, and as Missouri Attorney General I filed suit to hold them accountable,” he said.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said Wednesday that he wasn't familiar with the specifics of the new case. But he said the earlier Missouri lawsuit was "a purely politically motivated maneuver."
"China firmly opposes it, will never accept it, and reserves the right to take strong countermeasures," Pengyu said.
Xi Jinping gives ‘strong support’ for Jimmy Lai conviction amid global condemnation
Kiwi Chow’s Deadline banned in Hong Kong over national security concerns
Girl, 13, identified as victim of Hiroshima atomic bombing after 80 years
Trump asks Xi Jinping to release British media tycoon Jimmy Lai
Chinese scientists develop easy-to-apply balm to boost male fertility
Jimmy Lai’s conviction condemned around the world as ‘travesty of justice’
