Federal Judge Imposes $24 Billion Judgement Against China For COVID Cover-Up As Missouri Moves To Seize Assets

A federal judge in Missouri has found that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) covered up the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and hoarded protective equipment – costing the world precious time and lives. Now, Missouri officials are vowing to go after CCP assets.

Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. on Friday ordered China to pay a staggering $24 billion for their role in the disaster, a ruling that could pave the way for Missouri to seize Chinese-owned assets – including farmland, the NY Times reports.

The lawsuit, filed by the Missouri attorney general’s office in April 2020, during the early months of the pandemic, accused the Chinese government of withholding information about the existence and spread of the virus and then of cutting off the supply of personal protective equipment, or P.P.E., from the rest of the world. Chinese officials said Friday that they did not accept the judge’s decision.

Limbaugh wrote in his decision that “China was misleading the world about the dangers and scope of the Covid-19 pandemic,” and had “engaged in monopolistic actions to hoard P.P.E.,” which hampered early response to the pandemic.

The ruling in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri imposed the judgement against China, the ruling CCP, local governments in China, a Chinese health agency, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Limbaugh, a Bush W. Bush appointee, had initially dismissed Missouri’s lawsuit, only to have it returned to him by an appellate court – after which he held a bench trial in January at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. China did not show up to the hearing.

According to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, the ruling held China accountable for its actions.

“China refused to show up to court, but that doesn’t mean they get away with causing untold suffering and economic devastation,” said Bailey, adding: “We intend to collect every penny by seizing Chinese-owned assets, including Missouri farmland.”

Related:

• Arkansas Plots Massive Crackdown On China As Fears Grow Over U.S. Land Grab
• Kyle Bass Sounds Alarm Over China’s ‘Insane Battlefield Asymmetries’ In U.S. Land Ownership
• Second-Largest Foreign Owner Of US Land Is Member Of The CCP
• As Chinese Purchases Of US Farmland Soar, It’s Becoming Impossible To Track How Much It Owns

The Chinese government is crying foul – and refusing to acknowledge the ruling.

“The so-called lawsuit has no basis in fact, law or international precedence,” a spokesman for China’s embassy in Washington fumed. “China does not and will not accept it. If China’s interests are harmed, we will firmly take reciprocal countermeasures according to international law.”

It remains unclear how or when Missouri might start grabbing Chinese assets, but Bailey has made it clear he isn’t bluffing. His office has suggested turning to the Trump administration for help in identifying Chinese-owned property that could be seized to pay the massive judgment.

Missouri has already been at the forefront of efforts to curb Chinese land ownership in the U.S., with state lawmakers pushing restrictions on foreign adversaries buying American soil. Bailey’s new push could escalate the battle, potentially setting the stage for a historic legal fight between the Show-Me State and Beijing.

Foreign governments can be sued in American courts, though the circumstances under which those lawsuits can proceed are sharply limited by a measure known as the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. In his earlier dismissal ruling, Judge Limbaugh said that Missouri’s lawsuit was unable to move forward because of that act. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said one of Missouri’s claims, about the hoarding of P.P.E., was not excluded by that act, and sent that portion of the case back to the district court. -NYT

Former Missouri Attorney General and now-Senator Eric Schmitt took a victory lap on social media after the ruling, declaring:

“When I was AG in Missouri, I sued China for unleashing Covid on the world. Missouri can now seize assets.”

BREAKING: When I was AG in Missouri I sued China for unleashing Covid on the world

My successor & friend @AGAndrewBailey continued the work & today the court awarded Missouri $24+ Billion in damages

Missouri can now seize assets

Just call us the Show Me (the money) state.

— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) March 7, 2025

This unprecedented case marks one of the largest legal judgments ever against a foreign government over a global crisis. While China is unlikely to pay up voluntarily, Missouri’s push to enforce the ruling through asset seizures could shake up U.S.-China relations.

While this is nice and all, when are US institutions involved in the offshoring of gain-of-function research to Wuhan going to be held accountable?