Taking China to Court Over the Coronavirus
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 1 July 2020
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As the United States continues to suffer from the effects of the coronavirus, the controversy surrounding China's alleged role in the pandemic has continued to grow. In recent weeks, it has even entered the U.S. courts, as private plaintiffs have brought claims against the Chinese government and related institutions for allegedly contributing to the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, members of Congress have introduced legislation aimed at making such litigation even easier to pursue, specifically by stripping away the sovereign immunity protections that normally protect foreign states from such claims. But can these efforts really provide Americans with needed relief, or are they just a dangerous distraction from the real issues with the United States's own coronavirus response? To discuss these issues, Scott R. Anderson spoke with Chimène Keitner, the Alfred and Hanna Fromm Professor of International Law at the University of California Hastings School of Law, and Robert Williams, executive director of the Paul Tsai China Center at the Yale Law School.
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Transcript
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| 0:25.6 | no bull and the aftermath. |
| 0:34.1 | Even the prospect of stripping Chinese immunity or holding it liable US courts has opened |
| 0:40.8 | the door for China to argue that the US is the irresponsible actor here. |
| 0:47.3 | It seems to have provided more fodder for China's argument that it's the United States not |
| 0:52.5 | China that's threatened in core principles of the international system. |
| 0:57.4 | PRC state media has been almost giddy in pointing out that the lawsuit and compensation arguments |
| 1:04.5 | are attempts by the US to shirk responsibility for our government's own incompetence in slowing |
| 1:10.5 | the spread of the virus within our own borders, which of course came after President Trump |
| 1:16.6 | praised China for its early response to the pandemic. |
| 1:21.0 | I'm Scott Ar Anderson and this is the LawFair podcast July 1, 2020. |
| 1:26.8 | As the United States continues to suffer from the effects of the coronavirus, the controversy |
| 1:30.9 | surrounding China's alleged role in the pandemic has continued to grow. |
| 1:35.1 | In recent weeks, it's even entered the US courts, as private plaintiffs have brought |
| 1:38.8 | claims against the Chinese government and related institutions for allegedly contributing |
| 1:43.0 | to the virus's spread. |
| 1:44.5 | Meanwhile, members of Congress have introduced legislation aimed at making such litigation |
| 1:49.3 | even easier to pursue, specifically by stripping away the sovereign immunity protections |
| 1:53.9 | that normally protect foreign states from such claims. |
... |
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