Politics
Missouri Wins Multi-Billion-Dollar Judgement Against China In COVID Lawsuit
A federal judge on Friday ruled in favor of Missouri in the state’s $24 billion lawsuit against the Chinese Communist Party, which accused China of hoarding supplies of protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Federal court ruled that Missouri “has established this claim of damages through evidence satisfactory to the court,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced in a press release Friday. The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by Bailey’s predecessor and current U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt, which accused the CCP of “obstructing the production, purchase, and export of critical medical equipment, including PPE, during the pandemic.”
As early as May 2020, just weeks into the global outbreak, the Department of Homeland Security was warning that the CCP failed to alert the world about the outbreak in order to hoard the necessary medical supplies. Outbreaks were first reported in January 2020, though people who raised concern about the coronavirus were labeled as “racists” by Democrat lawmakers at the time.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) even had lunch in Chinatown in order to dismiss concerns over the virus and accuse the Trump Administration of racism for alerting the public.
Experts have long believed that the virus — which originated not far from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, an infectious disease laboratory — was spreading for weeks before any reports surfaced outside China.
Wuhan Institute of Virology is a research institute by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Jiangxia District, south of the Wuhan city, Hubei province, China.
On Friday, Judge Stephen Limbaugh said in his ruling that the “Court finds that Missouri has provided evidence satisfactory to the Court to establish each Defendant’s liability to Missouri under Count IV of Plaintiff’s Complaint. The Court therefore enters a judgment against Defendants, jointly and severally, in the amount of $24,488,825,457.00, plus postjudgment interest.”
The People’s Republic of China, the Communist Party of China, the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Emergency Management of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, the People’s Government of Hubei Province, the People’s Government of Wuhan City, the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences were all named as defendants in the lawsuit.
“This is a landmark victory for Missouri and the United States in the fight to hold China accountable for unleashing COVID-19 on the world,” Bailey said in a statement. “China refused to show up to court, but that doesn’t mean they get away with causing untold suffering and economic devastation. We intend to collect every penny by seizing Chinese-owned assets, including Missouri farmland.”
Bailey’s office noted that the judgement is six times more than the previous largest judgment in Missouri history.
The attorney general has stated that if China refuses to pay, he will begin the process of seizing Chinese assets and farmland in the state. “Hey China, You owe Missouri $24 BILLION. I just won a judgment in court. Pay up — or we start seizing assets and farmland,” Bailey posted on X.
A court of appeals previously ruled in Missouri’s favor back in January, reversing a lower court decision that initially dismissed the lawsuit. The appeals court ruled that China could still be held liable for hoarding medical equipment after Beijing was found to have lied about the origins of the virus.
