'Nothing short of absurdity': Beijing brushes off Missouri's lawsuit accusing China of wilful spread of Covid-19

Beijing hit back at a lawsuit by Missouri, in which the US state accuses China of causing a “preventable” pandemic, and has pointed out that the claims around which the suit revolves are nothing but unfounded.

“This so-called accusation has no factual and legal basis. It is nothing short of absurdity,” China's foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a media briefing on Wednesday, cited by Reuters.

“Such abuse of litigation is not conducive to the epidemic response at home in the United States and also runs counter to international cooperation,” Geng said, arguing that China has, since January 3, regularly provided updates to the US on the novel coronavirus epidemic that originated on its territory.

Earlier, Missouri's Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a civil lawsuit in a US federal court against the entire nation of China, virtually accusing it of letting the initially local Covid-19 outbreak go global. It went as far as to demand that China cover damages for what “literally every Missourian” faced as the virus spread across the US.

Missouri was the first US state to file such a complaint against China, although some US private businesses have already attempted to sue Beijing as well.

The offbeat legal action falls perfectly in line with Washington DC's promotion of a theory that Covid-19 came from a Chinese laboratory. Separately, Donald Trump has accused Beijing of covering up its actual coronavirus death toll, suggesting that “everyone knows it.”

Adding insult to injury, Australia has called for an “independent review” into “issues around coronavirus” and the way China dealt with it. Firing back, Beijing urged “these people” to respect “facts, science and international consensus."

“They need to realize that their enemy is not China, but the virus,” the foreign ministry spokesman insisted this week. “Attacking and discrediting other countries will not save the time and lives lost,” the diplomat said.

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