Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has stated that China is suing the state for $50 billion as part of an effort to seize Chinese assets.

In the lawsuit, China declared Missouri an “economic and reputational menace.”

The suit follows a $24 billion judgment secured by Missouri’s attorney general office against the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese Communist Party, and related entities for causing and exacerbating the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a press release from the Missouri Attorney General’s office, Hanaway “fully intends to collect” on that judgment.

Five years ago, Missouri sued China for its alleged role in worsening the pandemic, arguing that China obstructed the production, purchasing, importing, and exporting of medical equipment.

Former Missouri Attorney General Schmitt, who has been banned from Communist China, stated: “I’ve been banned from Communist China, and now I am being sued and targeted by Communist China in a $50 billion lawfare campaign, and I’ll wear it like a badge of honor.”

He added: “China’s sinister malfeasance during the COVID-19 pandemic led to over a million Americans losing their lives, economic turmoil that rocked our country for years, and an enormous amount of human suffering. As Missouri Attorney General, I filed suit to hold them accountable.”

China is demanding that Missouri officials issue public apologies on several American media and internet platforms. However, Hanaway has indicated the state will continue working to obtain certification that would allow her to seize Chinese-owned assets, including real property, financial interests, and other holdings.

“I find it extremely telling that the Chinese blame our great state for ‘belittling the social evaluation’ of The Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Hanaway said. “This lawsuit is a stalling tactic and tells me that we have been on the right side of this issue all along.”

Additionally, the People’s Government of Wuhan Municipality, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology are suing Schmitt for roughly $50 billion, years after he sued China during the pandemic.

The lawsuit against Schmitt, FBI co-deputy director Andrew Bailey, and Missouri accuses them of “damaging the reputations of China, Wuhan, and the associated research facilities through malicious vexatious litigation, fabricating enormous disinformation, and spreading stigmatizing and discriminating slanders.”

Schmitt described the matter as “sour grapes” while noting his team is working on translating the legal papers served to him.