After American state of Missouri, Israeli NGO planning class action lawsuit against China

In 1957, the founding father of China, Mao Zedong made a declaration. The Chinese leader said he is not afraid of nuclear war.

"There are 2.7 billion people in the world. It doesn't matter if some get killed," Mao said. Mao Zedong did not care for human life. His successors have followed in his path..

Sixty-three years on, the present Chinese leadership does not care for human life either. A pandemic that began in China has spread to the entire world. More than one lakh, 70 thousand people have died and now the world wants China to pay.

The American state of Missouri is taking China to court. In the past few weeks, there have been private lawsuits but this one is different. It is one government suing another. Elected officials in America are taking legal action against China. China didn't inform the World Health Organisation about human-to-human transmission.

Even when the local medical community had indications, Chinese leaders did little to curb the spread of the virus. They allowed thousands of people to travel in and out of Wuhan. The lawsuit has everything. It talks about how whistleblowers were punished for speaking out. It even talks about faulty medical equipment but, is this just to embarrass China?

Can a lawsuit like this achieve anything? Can China be sued in America? Technically, not because China enjoys sovereign immunity but, the lawmakers in Missouri are optimistic. China, meanwhile, was quick to dismiss the lawsuit. Beijing says the case is absurd and lacks factual or legal basis.

China may dismiss these lawsuits but these cases might not even stand the scrutiny of court but that's not stopping people from filing them.

In fact, an Israeli NGOo is planning a class action lawsuit. Shurat Hadin is a Tel Aviv based civil rights organisation. It usually focuses on terror victims. Now it is focusing on a different kind of terror, It plans to sue China for compensation.

When the outbreak began, China blocked the flow of information. Transparency could have saved lives but, China attempted a cover-up and even today it might be hiding what the world needs to know. Leaders are now demanding facts. What happened in December-- during the initial days of the outbreak? Angela Merkel wants to know.

The German Chancellor wants a full disclosure from China. Australia's foreign minister wants a global investigation. marise payne wants an investigation into the origin of the virus.

An investigation that is done independently and not by the World Health Organisation.