Recently, the Mississippi state government issued a subpoena to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), accusing the CCP of maliciously spreading the epidemic to the United States and seeking financial compensation. As to what the consequences of this move by the state of Mississippi are, Hong Kong current affairs commentator and China expert Ching Cheong commented that it is a great thing that for the first time a government-level authority in the U.S. has issued a subpoena to the CCP, which could trigger a shock effect and lead to the freezing of CCP assets in the U.S.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch recently said in a statement, “Mississippi families and businesses deserve financial compensation for the dangerous actions of China (CCP) in maliciously spreading the outbreak. We have issued subpoenas to the relevant Chinese Communist Party authorities. The lawsuit for the claim is currently underway and we look forward to justice for the people of Mississippi.”
According to local Mississippi media outlet WLBT, there is evidence that the CCP virus was transmitted from the Wuhan Virus Institute in China, and as a result, last December 9, the Southern District Court of Mississippi issued a lawsuit to the People’s Republic of China, the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CPC National Health Commission, the Ministry of Emergency Management, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Hubei Provincial Government and the Wuhan Municipal Government, as well as the Wuhan Institute of Virus Research and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, holding the CCP responsible for the spread of the epidemic and filing substantial claims.
According to the law, the relevant Chinese Communist Party authorities were given 21 days to respond to the Mississippi court summons, and if they did not respond, the district court would notify them to “proceed with judgment by default. Nearly five months after the subpoena was issued, there is no news that the defendants have made any response.
Ching Cheong analyzed the case, saying that it is a case that will be tried in court. According to the legal process, the first step is to successfully find the Chinese Communist Party guilty, and the second step is to determine how much money the Chinese Communist Party has to pay. He believes that once a court in one U.S. state recognizes the culpability and civil liability, rules that the CCP needs to pay compensation, and awards the appropriate amount, other states will follow that state’s lead and file lawsuits in local courts.
Cheng Xiang said, of course, the Chinese Communist Party is unlikely to pay compensation, or it may scare people by not recognizing, ignoring and threatening to cut off diplomatic relations, as it did when the International Court of Justice in The Hague considered the issue of sovereignty in the South China Sea. But the chain reaction caused by this matter will force the federal government to freeze the CCP’s assets in the United States and use them as compensation.
He said, “This is a very good thing, setting a precedent for government recognition, for using Chinese Communist Party assets in the United States as collateral.” He added, “This is a phenomenon that (the international community) would very much like to see, that the CCP must be brought to justice …… Because American society has awakened to the fact that the threat they face comes from the CCP.”
Current events commentator Zhou also wrote an analysis that the court sued the CCP to avoid the restrictions of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). Because the law restricts Americans from suing foreign governments, they are not restricted by the FSIA if they are suing the Chinese Communist Party, which controls the government.
Zhou also pointed out that the Chinese Communist Party is afraid to respond to the lawsuit because it is afraid, knowing that the Wuhan Institute of Virus Research and the Chinese Communist Party are responsible for the current epidemic that has killed millions of people. Now that there is a consensus among countries to hold the CCP accountable, there is a lot of talk of global claims against the CCP. “Faced with this situation, the Chinese Communist Party has suddenly become a goon, playing deaf and dumb, not daring to tell the nation the truth at all.”
Zhou said that while the Chinese Communist government has diplomatic immunity, the National Health Commission, the Ministry of Emergency Management, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Hubei Provincial Government, the Wuhan Municipal Government and the Wuhan Institute of Virus Research, which are being sued, do not enjoy diplomatic immunity. Once a U.S. court rules in absentia that these defendants are also liable and even compensated, it is highly likely that the CCP’s overseas assets will be frozen. He believes that “this is exactly what the CCP fears most.”
According to Fox News, the first state to file a lawsuit against the CCP is Missouri. As early as April of last year, the state filed a lawsuit against the Chinese Communist Party, accusing it of “deception, concealment, malfeasance and inaction that led to the pandemic” and holding it responsible for the global spread of the epidemic, as well as the enormous loss of life and economic damage caused by the virus.
In early April, U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-OH), the senior Republican member of the House of Representatives, again called on the Biden administration to take the Chinese Communist Party to the International Court of Justice in Shanghai and demand that the Chinese Communist Party pay huge economic losses.
Currently, more than 150 million people worldwide have been infected with the Chinese virus, and 3.25 million have died, with 32.6 million people diagnosed in the United States alone.
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