Will Missouri sue Trump too?

**Editor's note: **Iram Khan is a Pakistan-based commentator on international affairs. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The last time the United States' foreign policy became hostage to elections, it got the president impeached. Now the Republicans are trying to inflame popular opinion against China to make it a scapegoat for America's botched management of the COVID-19 crisis.

This week when the state of Missouri sued China over its handling of the epidemic, legal experts were exasperated over the practicality of the move. The fact that the sovereign immunity doctrine in U.S. law limits jurisdiction over foreign governments makes the lawsuit a nonstarter.

An important thing to note here is that state Attorney General Eric Schmitt, the politician who filed the civil lawsuit, is a Republican. Though it remains to be seen if he had the blessings from his party's most senior figure in doing so.

The absurd lawsuit is shredded with discrepancies. The accusation that China did little to stop the spread of the infection is a contradiction of the mainstream narrative. When it imposed a strict lockdown to stem the contagion, U.S. media was, in fact, baying for blood while calling it a "draconian" measure.

Despite knowing the economic consequences, China shut down most private and commercial activities. This sacrifice gave ample time for the world, especially the U.S., to take necessary measures against the highly contagious disease. It also gave a head start to researchers to work on developing vaccines.

The scientific community utilized the period, whereas American politicians simply could not fathom the seriousness of the issue. Now that it has fallen upon them, they are looking to apportion blame rather than putting up a coherent strategy.

Another accusation that Missouri's attorney general made is that China is hoarding masks and personal protection equipment (PPE). Let's make one thing very clear: if the manufacturing sector of any country is logging overtime at this critical juncture, it is China's. After a drastic decrease in the domestic requirement of PPE, it is rushing to fulfill the needs of the rest of the world.

Tending to the humanitarian cause, China is donating the equipment to all countries in need – the U.S. included. States like New York and Maryland have received thousands of ventilators and masks absolutely free of cost.

As soon as COVID-19 was suppressed to a certain level in China, its factories spun into motion. The reason is a principle of simple economics. On one hand, they were meeting their government's donation requirements, and on the other, they were replugging themselves with global supply chains to restart their businesses. Hoarding of equipment, thus, could not benefit these factories or China or anybody else.

A woman gets off a bus on Flatbush Avenue, Friday night in the Brooklyn borough of New York, April 24, 2020. /AP

Such accusations reveal a consistently faulty discourse the Republicans right from the top have been attempting to build. Up until March, President Donald Trump was all praise for China's handling of the outbreak. But when the disjointed political response exposed a broken health system in the U.S., he switched to vitriol.

Ratcheting up racial hatred by calling it a Chinese virus and then giving fuel to conspiracy theories like the virus leaking from a laboratory, Trump has been trying to cover up his government's blunders.

Initially, he assured his nation that the virus would miraculously go away but then belatedly asked for lockdowns. When the states did follow his administration's advice, the Twitter loving president threw revolutionary calls on the social media platform to "liberate" those under Democratic governors.

Previously, it was only the diplomatic corps that was baffled by and unable to make sense of the mixed messages that are Trump's signature. Lately, it's the American states, health officials, and local authorities who are confused about the federal policy of tackling the coronavirus.

What Missouri has initiated in the federal court is a political gimmick. It serves to boost the portrayal that somebody outside the U.S. is responsible for the problems of the country. The trade war that caused a wave of protectionism and ended up hurting American farmers and manufacturers was a similar ruse in placing the blame of a stagnating U.S. economy on China.

In this year of the election, Trump and his Republican ilk will do anything for his second term. The entire response of the White House and that of multiple Republican state administrations to the epidemic is centered around how it plays out in November. This is one downside of partisan politics where the bid at the office takes precedence over the national and international good.

In this politically heated atmosphere, Missouri can sue Trump for a much valid reason: putting the country in an institutional crisis amid a grave health emergency. He is continuously contradicting the chief infectious disease official and locking horns with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director. And then it was the sacking of the top vaccine expert allegedly for refusing to tout Trump's promotion of a COVID-19 medicine.

After all, suing the Trump administration is not without precedent. New York has done so over a federal rule that limits paid sick leave for those affected by the coronavirus.

While Missouri's act against China was certainly an "abuse of litigation", New York's reason for taking the administration to court is constitutional. It can serve as a pointer in finding out who exactly is to be blamed for deepening the problem.

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