US Lawyer Files $20 Trillion Lawsuit Against China For Coronavirus Outbreak
A lawsuit has been filed in the district court of Texas, a district in the United States, against China seeking compensation against damages of over $20 Trillion US Dollars for creating and releasing, whether accidentally or otherwise, the Novel Coronavirus i.e. COVID-19 as a biological weapon. The plaint states that China has violated its international obligations.
The suit filed is a class action suit involving three plaintiffs namely Buzz Photos, whose business got hugely affected following the standstill due to COVID-19 pandemic; Freedom Watch Inc., a non-profit corporation and Larry Klazman, an individual from Florida.
The plaintiffs argue that Coronavirus is a terrorist bio-weapon of mass destruction of the world population. In their argument, the plaintiffs have stated that the Coronavirus was released from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Hubei and there is a sufficient indication for its reckless release. They claim that the virus was intentionally engineered in the Chinese laboratory. According to an article published in The Hill, a lot of reputable people, experts and organizations all over the world conclude that COVID-19 virus was accidentally released by a Chinese bio-weapon facility into the atmosphere and it spread uncontrollably. The article states that the COVID-19 outbreak was originated near the most sophisticated bioweapons lab in Wuhan and then spread into the world, leaving people to guess whether it originated in the lab or came from wild bats or snakes or an exotic meat market.
To back their arguments, the plaintiffs rely on the fact that the Chinese government silenced its doctors and researchers in Wuhan and throughout China from disclosing any information related to Coronavirus initially. Either the doctors and researchers were arrested or disappeared. The plaintiffs cited an incident in the proof of their contentions that to contain the Coronavirus outbreak, Major General Chen Wei, a prominent Chinese health professional, injected herself alongwith six other members of her staff with a possible vaccine which was not tested on animals before. Plaintiffs go on to say that the Chen Wei was desperate and guilty for causing national and world catastrophe.
The plaint states, based on reports, that the effort to check the origin and spread of COVID-19 and prevention of any such future threats was linked to safety protocols of China’s biomedical microbiology laboratories by the China’s military and national leaders. The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology released a directive having instructions on strengthening biosecurity management in bio labs that handle advanced viruses like the novel coronavirus. This leaves the scope for more doubt and suspicion that China has itself created the deadly Coronavirus.
The plaintiffs have sought an award of compensatory damages of $20 Trillion US Dollars and other reliefs as the Court may deem just and proper based on the grounds below-
- Conspiracy to injure and even cause death of US citizens
- Negligence of China in abiding by its International obligations
- Aiding and abetting in death or serious bodily injuries to US citizens
- Wrongful death
- Assault and Battery
A similar plaint was filed in India in the court of Bihar alleging that Xi Jinping, the President of China and Sun Weidong, the Ambassador of China have manufactured the COVID-19 virus in the lab in Wuhan and all this is Chinese conspiracy to become a global super power. The plaint was filed by Sudheer Kumar Ojha who is an Advocate. He relied on a book, ‘The Eyes of Darkness’, published in 1981 wherein it is mentioned that a deadly virus by the name of Wuhan 400 would be manufactured in a bio lab in Wuhan which would be used as a biological weapon. The matter is to be heard in the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Hemant Kumar.
By-
Ayushi Mishra
Student Reporter, INBA