U.S.-Chinese Writers Sue China for Default Judgment
04/26/12
In a very interesting case where censorship, international law, human rights and civil procedure come together to form a legal jumble, a group of New York Chinese resident writers has asked for a default judgment against the People's Republic of China before a federal court in New York. The lawsuit was filed last year on the claims that the government of China had unlawfully censored the writings of authors of the group. When China ignored the complaint and did not file a response, the writers filed a claim for a default judgment of $17.4 million.
In May 2011, the writers filed the lawsuit against China and Baidu.com Inc, the owner of China's most popular internet search engine seeking $16 million in damages. The rested their claims on the ground that their pro-democracy writings were censored or banned from the search engine.
In a letter dated January 29, the Ministry of Justice said “The execution of the request would infringe the sovereignty or security of the People's Republic of China” referring to the request to serve papers upon the defendants.
Stephen N. Preziosi, the attorney of the writers said he filed the request for a default judgment after learning that the Ministry of Justice was reluctant to serve the papers upon the defendants. On the next step he would be filing a formal motion for the damages.
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The attorney for the writers held that it was wrong for the Ministry of Justice in “making this blanket argument that Baidu.com can enjoy the protection of sovereignty.”
According to the writers and their lawyer, Baidu.com works under an international domain name and operates as a search engine. It may be an arm of the People's Republic of China, but as a functional business entity, it does not enjoy state sovereignty. Hence the refusal of the Ministry of Justice to serve legal papers upon an international business entity is unjustified.
Preziosi said, “Baidu.com has not responded and they are very much aware this lawsuit is pending.”
The case is Zhang v. Baidu.com, 11-03388, U.S. District Court, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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