international
Why don&#39;t governments and private companies sue China for economic and life losses due to COVID-19 (corona virus)?
<p>We are witnessing the financial and personal repercussions of the spread of the corona virus that originated in Wuhan. It seems that the virus started spreading possibly as early as mid-November with the Chinese government trying to hide/downplay/minimize the issue at hand. Given the Chinese government failure to:</p>

<ol>
<li>Prevent the sale of raw animal meat and enforce the necessary sanitary measures to avoid human contact with raw meat.</li>
<li>Allowing farming and selling of wild animals, which was than corrected later by issuing a law banning such sales, thus admitting the problem.</li>
<li>Properly contain the spread in Wuhan by acknowledging the alarm calls of the local doctors and first signs that an unknown strain of corona virus was circulating.</li>
</ol>

<p>Is it possible for governments and private companies, I imagine only the most powerful ones, to sue the Chinese government to seek financial compensation for the damages occurred worlwide?</p>

<p>I imagine that if a private company would accidentally leak a virus outside a lab, such company would be liable for all damages, why is a government not liable for any damage in this case? Can, theoretically, Chinese or citizens from other countries sue the Chinese government for the loss of loved ones?</p>

<p>The main problem is that there is no court with authority to hear this case outside of China. It may be futile to sue in US courts, since China will not enforce US judgments. You can sue a Chinese company in Chinese court, under <a href="http://cicc.court.gov.cn/html/1/219/199/200/644.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">their Civil Procedure Law</a>, but this pertains to contract breach. The question is whether there is any law under which the government of China can be sued for negligence – it is unlikely that that is possible (perhaps there is an expert in Chinese law here who can address that issue).</p>

<p><a href="https://images.law.com/contrib/content/uploads/documents/392/85094/Coronavirus-China-class-action.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This lawsuit</a> is filed in US courts. It is based on the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/part-IV/chapter-97" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act</a>. Supposing that this lawsuit is successful in US courts, then the question is what enforcement actions are possible. Since the defendants are various governments and government agencies in China, execution of the judgment would have to be against those defendants – you can't seize the assets of every person with some connection to China. But given the nature of the Chinese government, it is possible that US courts could find that the assets of Chinese companies are effectively government assets.</p>

<p>The short answer is, in fact a lawsuit has been filed, and I expect more. I also don't expect them to succeed in the long run.</p>
