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China filed a counter-suit against the US state missouri An apology from major US news outlets for posing an “economic and reputational threat” along with a fine of more than $50 billion and related charges. COVID-19 pandemic.
The legal challenge from Wuhan, China, the city where COVID-19 was first found, grew after Missouri sued China for hoarding personal protective equipment in the early months of the pandemic.
A federal judge issued a ruling In favor of Missouri earlier this year After China refused to participate in the trial. It called the lawsuit “pretty 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 US officials of harming China’s reputation and “soft power”, particularly the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
It names three defendants, including the state of Missouri, U.S. Senator Eric Schmidt, and former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey.
It alleged that the three parties “fabricated numerous disinformation”, provided fictitious evidence of harm, and carried out various disinformation about China, including obstructing the investigation. origin of virusAnd hid information related to the virus.
It said politicizing COVID-19 and stigmatizing China has caused reputational damage and caused “deep and extremely heavy losses” to the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit also accused the state of “seriously endangering China’s sovereignty, security and development interests” through its “vexatious” litigation.
China is demanding a public apology, including from major US and Chinese media outlets new York Timescnn, wall street journal, Washington PostYouTube and other US media or Internet platforms,
It is also demanding compensation totaling approximately $50.5 billion, as well as any legal fees incurred and the right to claim further compensation.
The three Chinese plaintiffs were among the defendants in a lawsuit filed five years ago by Schmidt, then Missouri 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 US lawsuit took an unusual turn when US District Judge Stephen Limbaugh initially dismissed the suit, saying Missouri could not 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 respiratory masks, medical gowns and gloves.
After Chinese officials did not respond, Judge Limbaugh accepted Missouri’s estimate of past and potential future damages of more than $8 billion, tripled it as allowed by federal law, and added 3.91 percent interest until it was collected.
Last month, Missouri stepped up its collection efforts, asking the U.S. State Department to formally notify China that the state intends to pursue assets owned in whole or in part by the Chinese government to satisfy the judgment.
Kathryn Hanaway, who inherited the lawsuit when she was appointed state attorney general, said it was a “stoppage strategy”.
“I find it extremely clear that the Chinese blame our great state for ‘undermining the social assessment’ of the Wuhan Institute of Virology. This lawsuit is a stalling tactic and tells me that we have always been on the right side on this issue,” Attorney General Hanaway said.
“We remain unwavering in our mission to collect our $24 billion judgment, which was legally awarded in federal court.”
Schmidt, a close Trump ally who is under sanctions by the Chinese government, said he would “wear it like a badge of honor”.
“China’s horrific malfeasance during the COVID-19 pandemic has cost more than a million Americans their lives, caused economic turmoil that has rocked our country for years, and caused an enormous amount of human suffering, and as Missouri Attorney General I filed suit to hold them accountable,” he said.
Chinese Embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu in Washington said Wednesday he was not familiar with the specifics of the new case. But he said Missouri’s previous lawsuit was a “purely politically motivated maneuver.”
“China firmly opposes this, will never accept it and reserves the right to take strong retaliatory measures,” Pengyu said.