A federal judge in Missouri found the Chinese government responsible for covering up the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and hoarding protective equipment in a ruling on Friday. He entered a judgment of more than $24 billion that Missouri officials vowed to enforce by seizing Chinese assets.

周五，密苏里州一名联邦法官做出裁决，中国政府应该对掩盖新冠大流行的开始和囤积防护装备负有责任。他做出了一项超过240亿美元的判决，密苏里州官员誓言通过扣押中国资产来执行这项判决。

The lawsuit, filed by the Missouri attorney general’s office in April 2020, during the early months of the pandemic, accused the Chinese government of withholding information about the existence and spread of the virus and then of cutting off the supply of personal protective equipment, or P.P.E., from the rest of the world. Chinese officials said Friday that they did not accept the judge’s decision.

密苏里州总检察长办公室于2020年4月在大流行的最初几个月提起诉讼，指控中国政府隐瞒有关该病毒存在和传播的信息，并切断了个人防护装备对世界其他地区的出口。周五，中国官员表示，他们不接受法官的判决。

In his ruling, Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. wrote that “China was misleading the world about the dangers and scope of the Covid-19 pandemic” and had “engaged in monopolistic actions to hoard P.P.E.” Those actions, he said, hampered the early response to the pandemic in the United States and made it impossible to purchase enough equipment for medical providers responding to the virus.

法官斯蒂芬·林博在裁决中写道，“中国在新冠大流行的危险和范围方面误导了世界”，并“采取垄断行为囤积个人防护装备”，他说，这些行为阻碍了美国对大流行的早期反应，使医疗机构无法为应对该病毒采购足够设备。

Judge Limbaugh, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, imposed the judgment against China, its governing Communist Party, local governments in China, as well as a health agency and a laboratory in the country.

林博是美国密苏里州东区地方法院法官，他对中国、执政的中国共产党、几个中国地方政府以及中国的一家卫生机构和一家实验室作出了判决。

Missouri’s attorney general, Andrew Bailey, said in a statement that the ruling held China accountable for its actions.

密苏里州总检察长安德鲁·贝利在声明中表示，该裁决要求中国对其行为负责。

“China refused to show up to court, but that doesn’t mean they get away with causing untold suffering and economic devastation,” said Mr. Bailey, a Republican. “We intend to collect every penny by seizing Chinese-owned assets, including Missouri farmland.”

“中国拒绝出庭，但这并不意味着他们造成了难以形容的痛苦和经济破坏之后可以逃脱惩罚，”共和党人贝利说。“我们打算通过没收中国人拥有的资产，包括密苏里州的农田，来收取每一分钱。”

A spokesman for China’s embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, said his government will not recognize the judgment.

中国驻华盛顿大使馆发言人刘鹏宇表示，中国政府不会承认这一判决。

“The so-called lawsuit has no basis in fact, law or international precedence,” he said in a statement. “China does not and will not accept it. If China’s interests are harmed, we will firmly take reciprocal countermeasures according to international law.”

“所谓的诉讼没有事实基础、没有法律依据、没有国际先例。中国现在不承认，将来也不会承认。如果中国的利益受到损害，将根据国际法坚决予以还击，”他在声明中说。

It was not immediately clear how or when Missouri officials might move to seize Chinese assets, including land, as they pledged to do. Mr. Bailey’s office said it could seek assistance from the Trump administration in identifying and taking those assets.

目前尚不清楚密苏里州官员将如何或何时按照承诺采取行动，没收包括土地在内的中国资产。贝利的办公室表示，它可能会寻求特朗普政府的协助，以确定并没收这些资产。

Judge Limbaugh, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, initially dismissed Missouri’s lawsuit. But the case was returned to him by an appellate court, and he held a bench trial in January at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Mo. No one argued on behalf of China at the hearing.

由前总统乔治·W·布什任命的林博法官最初驳回了密苏里州的诉讼。但这个案子被上诉法院退回给了他，今年1月，他在密苏里州开普吉拉多的联邦法院进行了法官审判。在听证会上，没有人代表中国辩护。

Foreign governments can be sued in American courts, though the circumstances under which those lawsuits can proceed are sharply limited by a measure known as the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. In his earlier dismissal ruling, Judge Limbaugh said that Missouri’s lawsuit was unable to move forward because of that act. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said one of Missouri’s claims, about the hoarding of P.P.E., was not excluded by that act, and sent that portion of the case back to the district court.

外国政府可以在美国法院被起诉，不过诉讼的进行情况受到《外国主权豁免法》的严格限制。林博在早些时候的驳回裁决中表示，由于该法案，密苏里州的诉讼无法向前推进。美国第八巡回上诉法院表示，密苏里州关于囤积个人防护装备的诉讼并不被该法案排除在外，并将案件的部分发回地方法院。

Such cases have been tested in American courts before. In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a lawsuit filed by New York City against India and Mongolia to move forward, rejecting those countries’ claims of immunity under the foreign sovereign act.

此类案件以前在美国法院也有过判例。2007年，美国最高法院允许纽约市继续对印度和蒙古提起的诉讼，驳回了这些国家根据外国主权法提出的豁免要求。

Judge Limbaugh said Missouri’s lawyers showed that China knew that the virus was spreading — and that it was spreading from person to person — long before it shared that information with the world. He also said Missouri showed that China took steps to nationalize American factories in China to produce protective equipment, which limited the supply available for export and drove up prices in places like Missouri. The judge noted that Covid-19 was the third-leading cause of death in Missouri in 2020 and 2021.

林博表示，密苏里州的律师表明，中国早在与世界分享信息之前就知道病毒正在传播——并且是在人与人之间传播。他还说，密苏里州证明，中国采取了措施将在中国生产防护装备的美国工厂用作国有，这限制了可用于出口的供应，推高了密苏里州等地的装备价格。法官指出，新冠是2020年和2021年密苏里州第三大死因。

Senator Eric Schmitt, who was Missouri’s attorney general when the lawsuit was filed, celebrated the judgment on social media on Friday.

参议员埃里克·施密特周五在社交媒体上盛赞这一判决，在该诉讼提起时，他是密苏里州的总检察长。

“When I was AG in Missouri,” wrote Mr. Schmitt, a Republican, “I sued China for unleashing Covid on the world.” He added that “Missouri can now seize assets.”

共和党人施密特写道，“当我在密苏里州担任总检察长时，我起诉中国向世界释放了新冠病毒。”他还写道，“密苏里州现在可以扣押资产了。”