(NewsNation) — The state of Missouri says it’s being sued by China for $50 billion over the state potentially seizing assets, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced.
In the suit, China declares that Missouri is an “economic and reputational threat.” Earlier this year, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office secured a historic $24 billion judgment against the country.
“I find it extremely telling that the Chinese blame our great state for ‘belittling the social evaluation’ of The Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Hanaway said in a news release.
“This lawsuit is a stalling tactic and tells me that we have been on the right side of this issue all along. We stand undeterred in our mission to collect on our $24 billion judgment that was lawfully handed down in federal court,” she added.
Those named in China’s lawsuit include:
- The State of Missouri, represented by Governor Mike Kehoe
- U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt
- The Missouri Attorney General, including former Attorney General Andrew Bailey, now Co-Deputy Director of the FBI
Five years ago, Missouri sued China for causing and exacerbating the COVID-19 pandemic. They argued that China thwarted the production, purchasing, importing and exporting of medical equipment.
“I’ve been banned from Communist China, and now I am being sued and targeted by Communist China in a $50 billion lawfare campaign, and I’ll wear it like a badge of honor,” added Schmitt, R-Mo.
“China’s sinister malfeasance during the COVID-19 pandemic led to over a million Americans losing their lives, economic turmoil that rocked our country for years, and an enormous amount of human suffering, and as Missouri Attorney General, I filed suit to hold them accountable,” Schmitt said.
China is also demanding Missouri officials issue public apologies on several American media and internet platforms.
Hanaway, however, says the state will continue to work on obtaining certification that will allow her to seize Chinese-owned assets, which include real property, financial interests, and other holdings tied to the defendants from overseas.