The Wuhan Municipal Government and the Institute of Virology jointly sue the state of Missouri for infringement of reputation rights and the trial begins

(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) The Wuhan Intermediate People's Court issued a notice on November 2 stating that the case was heard in public last Friday and the trial procedures are still ongoing. The new coronavirus was first discovered in Wuhan at the end of 2019.

On May 7, 2025, the Intermediate People's Court of Wuhan City, Hubei Province filed a case to accept the case of the Wuhan Municipal Government, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences against the state of Missouri and the state's two attorneys general, Eric Schmidt and Andrew Bailey, for reputational infringement disputes. On December 12, 2025, upon the plaintiff’s application, the Intermediate People’s Court of Wuhan City, Hubei Province added Katherine Hanaway, the current Attorney General of the State of Missouri, as a co-defendant to participate in the lawsuit.

The plaintiff claimed that “the four defendants planned, promoted, and implemented malicious and abusive lawsuits in the United States, fabricated and spread false information, and published stigmatizing and discriminatory remarks, seriously infringing on the plaintiff’s reputation and causing huge losses. The four defendants are required to immediately stop the infringement, publicly apologize, and bear civil responsibilities such as eliminating the adverse effects, restoring the plaintiff’s reputation, and compensating for losses.” It also demands compensation of approximately 356 billion yuan (approximately 53 billion U.S. dollars).

More reading: Can’t Forget: Five Years of Wuhan’s Lockdown

The German Press Agency pointed out that this case is part of a tit-for-tat legal battle that has begun in 2020. At that time, Missouri sued China, accusing Beijing of causing economic losses during the epidemic and concealing the outbreak for a time.

Most of Missouri's claims were ultimately dismissed by a U.S. federal court, leaving only the allegations regarding medical protective equipment. In this accusation, Missouri stated that China restricted exports in the early stages of the epidemic, and on the other hand purchased large quantities of masks and other protective equipment from around the world.

In March 2025, a U.S. court ruled that Missouri should receive approximately US$24.5 billion in compensation because the Chinese defendants failed to appear in court to respond to the lawsuit. China denies the accusations and is seeking to overturn the ruling.