Hold China liable for worldwide coronavirus costs

by Richard Schulman

Courts on all six continents should be holding the government of China liable for worldwide coronavirus costs. For over a month, the totalitarian Communist government concealed the existence of a dangerous epidemic threat and threatened or jailed those of its doctors and citizens attempting to warn of its existence.

“[T]he spread of the virus to regions outside Asia would knock 1.3% off global growth this year, the equivalent of $1.1 trillion in lost income,” The Guardian reports, citing a study by Oxford Economics. Deaths have already occurred outside China — in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the US, Italy, and Iran — with many more taken sick with the highly infectious lung disease. China and the world could largely have been spared the deaths, injuries, and costs if China had had a free press and responsive democratic government, as in Taiwan.

China’s legal liability

Ordinarily sovereign states cannot be sued in US courts, but there are important exceptions, such as the domestic personal injury exception and the commercial activity exception, 28 USC §1605 (a)(5) and 28 USC §1605 (a)(2), respectively. The Chinese government’s negligence is a tort against the individuals and families affected by coronavirus death and injury, as well as the many businesses adversely affected by the epidemic. For example, the airline industry stands to lose almost $30 bn. dollars in revenue, the BBC reports.

If it is confirmed that the coronavirus originated in the Wuhan wild animal market, that would make the Chinese government doubly liable — for not having shut that dangerous market down earlier, despite warnings, and for covering up the existence of the virus outbreak once it had occurred.

If China refuses to settle cases brought against it, its extensive state property abroad can be seized and sold to compensate the victims.

China, however, could go a long way toward obtaining forgiveness if it moved to the free press and the democratic government enjoyed by Taiwan and being fought for in Hong Kong.

If China is not held liable for the injuries, deaths, and economic damage it has wrought, its brutal dictatorship will doubtless perpetrate some new global tragedy in the future.