China sues after Missouri seeks to collect on $25 billion court judgement, prosecutor says

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s top prosecutor said China is suing after the state pressed federal officials for help collecting on a roughly $25 billion court judgment related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said Tuesday in a news release that China is demanding a public apology from the state in a complaint filed in the Intermediate People’s Court of Wuhan. The Chinese government also is seeking compensation equivalent to $50.5 billion plus legal fees and the right to claim further compensation.

“This lawsuit is a stalling tactic and tells me that we have been on the right side of this issue all along,” Hanaway said in the news release.

At issue is a lawsuit Missouri filed alleging that China hoarded personal protective equipment during the early months of the pandemic, harming the state and its residents. A federal judge ruled for Missouri earlier this year after China declined to participate in the trial. It called the lawsuit “ very absurd ” when it was filed in 2020.

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.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said in an emailed statement 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.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier this year that its actions during the pandemic aren’t subject to U.S. jurisdiction and it doesn’t recognize the ruling.

Some legal experts have cast doubt on whether Missouri can collect on the judgment, because federal law generally shields foreign nations from lawsuits in U.S. courts.

The case has taken an unusual path. U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh initially dismissed the lawsuit in 2022, 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, 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% interest until it’s collected.

The lawsuit was originally filed by state Attorney General Eric Schmitt, an ally of President Donald Trump who subsequently won election to the U.S. Senate, and alleged that Chinese officials were to blame for the pandemic. It was carried on by Attorney General Andrew Bailey, another Trump ally who resigned in September to become co-deputy director of the FBI.

Hanaway, a former U.S. attorney and Missouri House speaker, inherited the case when she was appointed state attorney general by Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe.

The Associated Press wasn’t immediately able to obtain its own copy of the Chinese-filed complaint. But a copy was linked to Hanaway’s news release.

The complaint accuses Missouri, as well as Schmitt and Bailey, of “fabricating enormous disinformation, and spreading stigmatizing and discriminating slanders” that have harmed China’s reputation.

Schmitt said he would wear the suit “like a badge of honor” and accused Chinese authorities of “attempting to absolve themselves of all wrongdoing in the early days of the pandemic.”