In a dramatic escalation of a long-running legal feud, China has filed a multi-billion dollar counter-lawsuit against the US state of Missouri. The action demands a staggering $50.5 billion in compensation and public apologies in major media outlets for allegations made about China's role in the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Genesis of a Legal War
This new lawsuit, filed by the municipal government of Wuhan, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, is a direct response to litigation initiated by Missouri five years ago. In 2020, then-Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt sued China, the Chinese Communist Party, and several government bodies, alleging they were to blame for the pandemic.
After China declined to participate in the proceedings, a federal judge, Stephen Limbaugh, ruled in Missouri's favour earlier this year. He accepted the state's damage estimate, ultimately entering a judgment worth over $24 billion against China for allegedly hoarding personal protective equipment (PPE).
China's Allegations and Demands
China's retaliatory suit names three defendants: the state of Missouri, Senator Eric Schmitt, and Missouri's former Attorney General Andrew Bailey. It accuses them of fabricating disinformation, slandering China, and damaging the reputation and "soft power" of the plaintiffs, particularly the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The court documents state that the American lawsuit caused "profound and extremely enormous losses" by politicising the pandemic. Beyond the financial claim, China is demanding public apologies to be published in prominent outlets including the New York Times, CNN, and the Wall Street Journal.
Reactions and the Road Ahead
The response from Missouri has been one of defiance. Current Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, who inherited the case, dismissed China's move as a "stalling tactic." She affirmed the state's commitment to collecting on its $24 billion judgment, for which it has already asked the US State Department to help identify Chinese assets.
Senator Eric Schmitt, who remains banned from China, said he would "wear it like a badge of honour." A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, reiterated that the original Missouri case was "a purely politically motivated maneuver" and that China reserves the right to take strong countermeasures.
This legal tit-for-tat, rooted in the early chaos of the pandemic, shows no sign of abating. It underscores the deep diplomatic fractures and the ongoing battle over narrative and accountability that continue to define international relations in the pandemic's aftermath.
