THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF LEGAL JOBS ON EARTH
LawCrossing Legal Daily News Feature
U.S.-Chinese Writers Sue China for Default Judgment 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.
04/26/12
The attorney for the writers held that it was wrong for the Ministry of Justice in “making this blanket
In May 2011, the writers filed the lawsuit against China
argument that Baidu.com can enjoy the protection of
and Baidu.com Inc, the owner of China’s most popular
sovereignty.”
internet search engine seeking $16 million in damages. The rested their claims on the ground that their pro-
According to the writers and their lawyer, Baidu.
democracy writings were censored or banned from the
com works under an international domain name and
search engine.
operates as a search engine. It may be an arm of the People’s Republic of China, but as a functional business
In a letter dated January 29, the Ministry of Justice
entity, it does not enjoy state sovereignty. Hence the
said “The execution of the request would infringe the
refusal of the Ministry of Justice to serve legal papers
sovereignty or security of the People’s Republic of
upon an international business entity is unjustified.
China” referring to the request to serve papers upon Preziosi said, “Baidu.com has not responded and they
the defendants.
are very much aware this lawsuit is pending.” Stephen N. Preziosi, the attorney of the writers said he filed the request for a default judgment after learning
The case is Zhang v. Baidu.com, 11-03388, U.S.
that the Ministry of Justice was reluctant to serve the
District Court, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District
papers upon the defendants. On the next step he would
of New York (Manhattan).
be filing a formal motion for the damages.
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