To incite the public to sue China, the US seeks to legislate the removal of China's "sovereign immunity"
The 'sue China' campaign that American politicians have been inciting for several days has now been brought onto the legislative agenda. Recently, several lawmakers are preparing to introduce two new bills aimed at stripping the Chinese government of its sovereign immunity. Once these bills are passed, it would mean that there would be no legal obstacles to suing the Chinese government in the United States.
According to the principle of sovereign equality in international law, the Chinese government’s response to the epidemic is something that U.S. courts have no right to interfere with.
The so-called 'sovereign immunity' refers to the principle that the actions and property of a state are not subject to the jurisdiction of another country's government, which is also regarded as a symbol of the inviolability of a state's sovereignty. Today, the United States arrogantly seeks to unilaterally revoke China's sovereign immunity, which in itself violates international law:
According to the interpretation of 'international law,' immunity can only be voluntarily waived by a state for certain actions and cannot be unilaterally deprived by another state. The significance of this is that a country's sovereignty cannot be adjudicated by another country. Of course, the domineering American politicians have never cared about 'international law,' not even regarding China's national sovereignty.
In the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act enacted in 1967, the United States recognized the principle of sovereign immunity. However, with subsequent continuous amendments to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, while acknowledging that states enjoy immunity, the United States gradually established exceptions such as the waiver (of immunity) exception, counterclaim exception, commercial exception, tort exception, expropriation exception, arbitration award enforcement exception, and terrorism exception.
In this COVID-19 pandemic case, the plaintiffs mainly requested the U.S. courts to exercise judicial jurisdiction over China on the grounds of commercial exception, tort exception, terrorism exception, and violation of the Biological Weapons Convention.
According to international law, China does not need to bear responsibility.
Article 2 of the Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts by the International Law Commission of the United Nations in 2001 clearly states: 'State responsibility arises from an internationally wrongful act of a state only if both of the following conditions are met: first, the act is wrongful; second, the act can be attributed to the state.'
The subjects that constitute an internationally wrongful act must be states, not individuals or groups, and the wrongful act must be attributable to the state.
Therefore, for a country to bear responsibility, it must be proven that there is a legal causal relationship between the international unlawful act and the damage. Obviously, China's anti-epidemic actions do not meet the above conditions:
1. It is obviously unreasonable to regard a virus originating from nature as an illegal act of a country. For example, what about the H1N1 flu virus that originated in Mexico and broke out in the United States? And what about AIDS?
2. After the outbreak of the epidemic, our country has already promptly issued warnings to countries around the world. Moreover, there is still no conclusion on the exact origin of the epidemic. How can it be determined to be attributed to China?
And according to the provisions of the Draft Articles on Responsibility, whether an unlawful act can be attributed to a State should be determined in accordance with international law, rather than based on the domestic law of any country. Therefore, no State may invoke special provisions of its domestic law or the particularity of its domestic legal system to contest the attribution of such conduct.
Why does the United States want to contain China?
The United States' containment policy is not aimed at China; it is aimed at any country whose capabilities and resources might threaten the 'U.S.-led world order.' This was the case with the Soviet Union, the same with Russia, and of course, the same with China.
Why didn't the United States contain China earlier? Is it too late now?
As is well known, since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the United States has attempted to contain China through military interventions and encirclement, economic blockade and sanctions, and diplomatic isolation. Since Trump took office, it has consecutively played multiple cards such as trade wars and technology wars in an attempt to slow down China's development.
But this has never been a problem that can be stopped, it is something the United States cannot stop! While the United States supports wars and conflicts around the world and makes enemies everywhere, China is making friends and building a strong client base globally. The reason China has been able to achieve its development today is not due to anyone's favor, but through its own unremitting efforts and through vigorous reform and opening-up.
In the face of this move by the United States, the Chinese government and the broad masses of the Chinese people will absolutely not compromise and will absolutely not bow to evil forces. The U.S. government has failed to effectively handle the pandemic, yet in order to win votes, it attempts to shift the blame onto China and shirk responsibility. Such actions are unjust, and we will never retreat, but will fight to the end to uphold social justice. Moreover, this is not only a opposition to U.S. hegemony, but also to safeguard justice and order in the international community.
Finally, borrowing a phrase from Hua Chunying: we hope that some people in Washington think carefully about what kind of strong response the 1.4 billion Chinese people would make if they still want to blame China and use the pandemic to attack and bully China today.
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