Hubei Province and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have hired the U.S.-based global law firm White & Case to challenge a $24.5 billion default judgment awarded to Missouri over China’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. On August 31, the two Chinese entities asked a federal court in Missouri to set aside the judgment and dismiss the lawsuit. White & Case has assigned Washington-based senior litigation partner Christopher Curran, who has represented foreign governments in U.S. courts, to the case.
Missouri filed the lawsuit in April 2020, accusing China, the Chinese Communist Party, Hubei and Wuhan authorities, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and other Chinese entities of concealing information about COVID-19 and hoarding personal protective equipment (PPE), contributing to shortages and higher prices in the United States. A federal court initially dismissed the case under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, but the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals revived Missouri’s PPE-hoarding claim in 2024.
After the Chinese defendants failed to appear in court, U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. issued a default judgment in March 2025. The court initially awarded about $8.16 billion in compensatory damages, with the total subsequently increasing to approximately $24.5 billion under applicable federal law. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said the state would seek to enforce the judgment by targeting Chinese-owned assets, potentially including farmland in Missouri.
Missouri has argued that China’s challenge comes too late and vowed to continue pursuing the judgment.
Source: Epoch Times, September 1, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/8/31/n14840304.htm