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MO becomes first state to sue China (in Eastern District of MO) for coronavirus losses (est. $44B). Case assigned to Judge Limbaugh. See https://ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/press-releases/2019/prc-complaint.pdf?sfvrsn=86ae7ab_2 /1
State of Missouri AG's office claims China's activities meet 2 exceptions to Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA): commercial activities & non-commercial tort exceptions. Also, suit names party (CCP), not just PRC (gov't) agencies, maybe for that reason? /2
Also names Ministry of Civil Affairs (which oversees NGO activities) + Chinese Academy of Sciences. Guessing @Mizzou will have a tough time continuing academic exchange programs in China after this, but we will see.... /3
MU closed its Confucius Institute, but individual faculty have collaborations in China (plant science, agriculture, student exchange, etc). I worked on a project on how univs should engage with China; have to admit this isn't a scenario we considered. https://www.ncuscr.org/engagement-with-china-recommendations-for-american-colleges-universities /4
This highlights a topic I've been interested in for a few years now: the role of states & other subnational actors in nationall security + international politics (cc @EvanFeigenbaum @DrewErdmann). Working paper on this hopefully forthcoming soon.... /5
Judge initially assigned to this case is former Chief Justice of MO Supreme Court, Bush appointee, son of former federal judge, & Rush Limbaugh's cousin. He's also supposed to take senior status in August (to be replaced by Matthew Schelp): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_N._Limbaugh_Jr. /6
As others've noted, unclear whether MO's claim to bypass Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act (FSIA) will work. Even if it does, MO then has to show that it has jurisdiction over CCP ("defendant's suit-related conduct must create a substantial connection w/the forum State...") /7
For this analysis from Reuters see https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-lawsuit/in-a-first-missouri-sues-china-over-coronavirus-economic-losses-idUSKCN2232US /8
How this affects US-China relations, incl. in higher ed, depends a lot on China's response. Will China ignore the lawsuit bc it thinks unlikely to proceed? End collaboration w/MO in other realms, like ed/investment? Retaliate by suing a similarly-situated US entity in China? /9
