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BEIJING, May 4-- Some foreign officials' efforts to sue China for causing global damages in the COVID-19 pandemic are totally absurd and aim to cover up their own missteps, experts and observers have said. Those calling for China to "be held responsible" include attorney generals of the U.S. states of Missouri and Mississippi, who in April filed lawsuits against China and demanded compensation from it for the global losses caused by COVID-19. Greg Cusack, a former member of the Iowa House of Representatives, told Xinhua that the U.S. politicians' actions are "a smokescreen designed ... to keep the American people in a fog, to distort the truth, and to always deny accountability or responsibility for themselves." "What they ... are desperately trying to do is to cover up their own incompetence and failure to act in time," Cusack said, adding that the White House "clearly dropped the ball for two long months -- January and February -- before anything was said or put into motion." The United States, now the epicenter of the pandemic worldwide, has confirmed over 1 million COVID-19 cases in just some 100 days after it reported its first case on Jan. 21. Takakage Fujita, director general of a Japanese civil group dedicated to upholding and developing the Murayama Statement, said it is the negligence of Washington that has made both the U.S. caseload and death toll of COVID-19 the highest in the world. Buck-passing is a trick frequently used by some U.S. politicians, he said, adding that shifting the blame to China and others serves their own interest to score points in this year's presidential election. | 
