China sues Missouri after state seeks to collect on $25B court judgment

China is suing Missouri after the state pressed federal officials for help collecting on a roughly $25 billion court judgment tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said Tuesday. In a complaint filed in the Intermediate People’s Court of Wuhan, China seeks a public apology from Missouri, along with compensation equivalent to $50.5 billion, plus legal fees and the right to claim further compensation. Hanaway said the lawsuit is a stalling tactic and that Missouri has been on the right side of the issue.

Missouri filed the federal suit in 2020 alleging that Chinese officials 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. The case has a complicated path: U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh initially dismissed the suit in 2022, saying Missouri could not sue China and several government or scientific agencies. An appeals court later allowed one part of the suit to proceed, the PPE hoarding claim. 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 collection.

With the new complaint, Missouri and former Attorneys General Eric Schmitt and Andrew Bailey are accused by China of fabricating enormous disinformation and spreading stigmatizing and discriminating slanders that harmed China's reputation. Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said he was not familiar with the specifics of the new case but called the earlier Missouri lawsuit a purely politically motivated maneuver. He said China opposes it, will never accept it, and reserves the right to take strong countermeasures. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier this year that its actions during the pandemic were not subject to U.S. jurisdiction and it does not 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: the district court dismissed the suit in 2022; an appeals court allowed the PPE hoarding claim to proceed; Limbaugh then accepted Missouri's damages estimate of more than $8 billion, tripled it, and added 3.91% interest. Last month, Missouri escalated its efforts by 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.

Schmitt, who filed the original suit, said he would wear the case like a badge of honor and accused Chinese authorities of trying to absolve themselves of wrongdoing in the early days of the pandemic. The outcome remains uncertain given sovereign-immunity protections and China’s stance that the ruling is not binding on Beijing; enforcement will hinge on further legal and diplomatic steps.