The great state of Missouri has recently won a landmark lawsuit against China over their part in the COVID-19 mess, and is moving to seize Chinese-owned farmland in the Show-Me State to make good on the $24 billion judgement.
This from redstate.com.
Attorney General Andrew Bailey told Just the News:
Fresh off winning a landmark lawsuit, Missouri is moving quickly to seize Chinese-owned farmland and other assets in a bid to collect its landmark $24 billion civil judgment against Beijing for harm caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bailey said on the John Solomon Reports podcast this week:
Missouri will start to identify and begin going to court to have court orders issued to seize those assets to make good on that judgment.
As yet it’s unclear how much farmland is being seized or how it will be disposed to meet the monetary amount named in the settlement; presumably, it will be sold to American interests, and we should note that Missouri has some of the most productive arable land in the world.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr declared:
China’s communist government was liable for covering up the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and had engaged in ‘monopolistic actions’ by hoarding protective equipment (PPE). He ruled Beijing should reimburse Missouri $24 billion for harm it inflicted on the state’s residents.
The judge ruled:
China was misleading the world about the dangers and scope of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Further:
Missouri has demonstrated that the State has suffered significant harm in the form of lost net general tax revenue the State of Missouri would have collected but-for Defendants’ hoarding of PPE.
What’s not mentioned is any possible role China may have had in actually creating the virus. That’s a higher legal hurdle, perhaps, although China’s machinations inside the United States are, more and more, being addressed with legislation and lawsuits.
China insists they will not abide by the ruling.
Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu told The New York Times:
The so-called lawsuit has no basis in fact, law or international precedence.
China does not and will not accept it. If China’s interests are harmed, we will firmly take reciprocal countermeasures according to international law.
China was not represented at the trial, resulting in a default judgment.
Rationale why China is buying farmland in the United States is mere speculation at this time. Granted real estate can be a valuable part of an investment portfolio, but China has ample land of their own. Interestingly, China is far from the largest foreign owner of American agricultural land; that largest foreign owner, as of 2021, would be Canada, followed by the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
China’s ownership, also as of 2021, is about 383,935 acres. It’s likely, though, that the Canadian and other interests represent ownership by large agricultural business concerns, whereas China’s purchases are disturbing due to some of the lands’ proximity to important U.S. military installations. For example: Chinese interests have purchased 300 acres of land near Grand Forks Air Force Base, which is home to a B-1 Lancer wing, along with other assets.
The process for Missouri’s seizure of these Chinese assets has just begun; updates will follow.
