Should China pay us compensation for the COVID-19 virus?

[onetrack]

An interesting article below, by a British think tank - the Henry Jackson Society (who I have never heard of previously), as to how China should be sued, and made to pay compensation to the rest of the World, for their deceit and hiding of the virus outbreak, when it first started raging in Wuhan.

The HJS states that if China had been more proactive and open about the virus outbreak, instead of trying to cover it up to save face for the CCP, then the outbreak would have been contained, and the economic damage would have been trifling, as compared to the massiv economic damage bill now.

The HJS further states that China indulged in, “failure to adequately report (virus outbreak) information to the WHO” - which breached several articles of the International Health Regulations, of which China is a signatory.

It's an interesting thought, but I can't see where any international legal attempt to gain compensation from China would succeed.

 

https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/world-economy/coronavirus-report-demands-china-pay-65-trillion-in-compensation/news-story/74710257a0881e8fc9f07603fed87ab6?utm_source=news.com.au

[willedoo]

It's probably a case of people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Most nations responses were fairly poor in the early stages which has contributed to the spread. Trump, who's not the sharpest tool in the shed, has not been up to speed. In the early stages, the WHO offered test kits to the U.S. which Trump refused, ordering U.S. facilities to manufacture their own. By the time it was realised these didn't work and testing was started, the spread was untraceable and unable to be contained.

 

Trump, in the early days was saying it was only a minor thing and they had it under control. Nothing to see here, move along. It may have started in China, but the incompetence of other nations will result in as many or more deaths than any Chinese cover up. Even if the Chinese had fessed up to the problem in a timely manner, it still would have spread to other countries where dumbness allowed it to proliferate. The world's initial reaction to it would have been just as sloppy no matter when the initial recognition was.

[old man emu]

Do we sue the country where HIV/AIDS originated?

 

SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus) was transferred to humans as a result of chimps being killed and eaten, or their blood getting into cuts or wounds on people in the course of hunting.5 Normally, the hunter's body would have fought off SIV, but on a few occasions the virus adapted itself within its new human host and became HIV-1. The first transmission of SIV to HIV in humans took place around 1920 in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Scientists discovered that the chimps had hunted and eaten two smaller species of monkeys (red-capped mangabeys and greater spot-nosed monkeys). These smaller monkeys infected the chimps with two different strains of SIV.

 

The Kinshasa area is known for having the most genetic diversity in HIV strains in the world, reflecting the number of different times SIV was passed to humans. Many of the first cases of AIDS were recorded there too. The area around Kinshasa is full of transport links, such as roads, railways and rivers. The area also had a growing sex trade around the time that HIV began to spread. The high population of migrants and sex trade might explain how HIV spread along these infrastructure routes.

 

Should the Democratic Republic of Congo, or its colonial master, Belgium, (Belgian Congo before 30 June 1960) be sued because custom and ignorance released a devastating virus into the World.?

[willedoo]

I would doubt any lawsuits would get off the ground. Finger pointing is like sticking their head in the sand. Blaming someone will not get away from the fact that most countries are poorly prepared for something like this. If anything, countries should be thankful that this virus has exposed weaknesses in their systems that must be corrected. Another aspect is that in the future a far, far worse biological pandemic than this one might occur. If countries don't use this one as a wake up call to lift their game, then god help us all the next time.

 

Yesterday, I read a very good article on the pandemic. It was written by an author/researcher friend in the U.S. who has been a long term ALSE associate. His working career was in aviation medicine, in the U.S.A.F. and later as a contracting consultant. Drawing on his Cold War experience in CBRN warfare, he was very critical of his government's unpreparedness for the current crisis. The main problem in his eyes is that post Cold War complacency has led to the American Civil Defence programme being left to wither on the vine. That organisation was there to deal with situations exactly like we have now, and has been replaced with knee jerk reactions and ad hoc, poor decision making. If governments the world over don't learn this time round, then they truly are incompetent. All it would take is a worse virus than this one to bring down our house of cards.

[onetrack]

With the current CEO of the U.S., would you expect any other response, than the erratic, divisive, knee-jerk, ad-hoc decision-making, that comes right from the top?

[onetrack]

OME - No, it's not worth suing the Congo, they've got no money. When you start talking of lawsuits, the first thing to do, is identify the target that has the money. And China has plenty of money.

[red750]

Just received this link in an email - I haven't read it yet.

 

China Should Pay a Financial Cost For Its Coronavirus Lies

[old man emu]

it's not worth suing the Congo,

 

Yes, a ridiculous idea, but just as ridiculous as the idea to sue China. One might like to be quixotic and tilt at windmills, but in reality, there would not be a useful result. Who would benefit from the payment of a penalty? The Afterlife is a cashless society.

[spacesailor]

The dearly departed,s relatives !.

Even the funeral bills.

A couple of thousand in the US, about $5oo each.

that's the biggest we Hope !.

spacesailor