China on Friday attacked the theory that the coronavirus pandemic may have originated as a leak from a Chinese laboratory as a politically motivated lie, after the World Health Organization recommended in its strongest terms yet that a deeper probe is needed into whether a lab accident may be to blame.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian also rejected accusations that China had not fully cooperated with investigators, saying it welcomed a science-based probe but rejected any political manipulation.
He also reiterated calls for an investigation into "highly suspicious laboratories such as Fort Detrick and the University of North Carolina" in the United States where China has suggested, without evidence, that the U.S. was developing the coronavirus as a bioweapon.
"The lab leak theory is totally a lie concocted by anti-China forces for political purposes, which has nothing to do with science," Zhao said at a daily briefing.
"We always supported and participated in science-based global virus tracing, but we firmly opposed any forms of political manipulation," he said, repeating China's long-standing explanation for delaying or rejecting further investigations into the virus's origins.
Zhao said China has made major contributions toward virus tracing, sharing the most data and research results.
That "fully reflects China's open, transparent and responsible attitude, as well as its support for the work of the WHO and the advisory group," he said.
The WHO's stance in a report released Thursday is a sharp reversal of the U.N. health agency's initial assessment of the pandemic's origins. It comes after many critics accused WHO of being too quick to dismiss or underplay a lab-leak theory that put Chinese officials on the defensive.
Following a tightly controlled visit to China last year, the WHO concluded that it was "extremely unlikely" the coronavirus might have spread to humans from a lab in the city of Wuhan. Many scientists suspect the coronavirus jumped from bats to people, possibly via another animal.
However, in the Thursday report, WHO's expert group said "key pieces of data" to explain how the pandemic began were still missing. The scientists said the group would "remain open to any and all scientific evidence that becomes available in the future to allow for comprehensive testing of all reasonable hypotheses."
Identifying a disease's source in animals typically takes years. It took more than a decade for scientists to pinpoint the species of bats that were the natural reservoir for SARS, a relative of COVID-19.
The expert group also noted that since lab accidents in the past have triggered some outbreaks, the theory could not be discounted. They said China has not presented any studies to WHO that assessed the possibility of the coronavirus resulting from a laboratory leak.
The new report is indicative of a more confrontational relationship between China's authoritarian Communist leadership and the WHO, which had initially been accused of being overly deferential to Beijing, particularly by the former U.S. Trump administration.
The coronavirus has killed more than 6.3 million people worldwide, forced dozens of countries into lockdown and upended the world economy. It was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and was initially linked to a traditional market where wild animals were sold for food.
China was accused of responding slowly and covering up the extent of the outbreak, before it locked down the entire city of Wuhan and surrounding areas in the first of a series of draconian measures labeled "zero-COVID" which continue today as much of the rest of the world is opening up again.
Last month, the WHO called "zero-COVID" unsustainable, pointing to increased knowledge of the virus and the cost to the economy and civil rights. China rejected the criticism as "irresponsible."
China was also accused of leading a disinformation campaign, suggesting the virus was detected elsewhere before the Wuhan outbreak and putting forward other theories aimed at diverting attention from China.
Investigations by The Associated Press found that some top WHO insiders were frustrated by China during the initial outbreak even as WHO heaped praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping. They were also upset over how China sought to clamp down on research into the origins of COVID-19.
Zhao appeared to imply that China would reject any criticisms or suspicions of it.
"Research on the origin of the virus must adhere to scientific principles and should not be subject to political interference," Zhao said.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh got into a heated exchange in the House of Commons on Thursday, just minutes after Singh announced his party would not be supporting the Conservatives' first non-confidence motion against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
Shamattawa RCMP are searching for a missing six-year-old boy who hasn’t been seen since Wednesday morning.
B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by the RCMP after allegedly barricading herself in a room with a toddler early Thursday morning.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tapped Treasury Board President Anita Anand to take on additional duties as Canada's minister of transport on Thursday.
CTV News has learned there are multiple Canadian women alleging they were victims of sexual abuse at the hands of the late Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has lost 205 firearms since 2020, including more than 120 handguns and at least five fully automatic weapons like machine-guns.
Shohei Ohtani became the first major league player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season, with the Los Angeles Dodgers star going deep twice to reach the half-century mark and swiping two bags to get to 51 against the Miami Marlins on Thursday.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is calling on the Bloc Quebecois to topple the Trudeau government next Wednesday and trigger a federal election.
B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by the RCMP after allegedly barricading herself in a room with a toddler early Thursday morning.
Shamattawa RCMP are searching for a missing six-year-old boy who hasn’t been seen since Wednesday morning.
Friends and strangers have set up a makeshift memorial outside the home of a five-year-old boy who was found dead yesterday in Coteau-du-lac.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has lost 205 firearms since 2020, including more than 120 handguns and at least five fully automatic weapons like machine-guns.
The lawyer for a B.C. RCMP officer convicted of obstruction for telling a witness to delete cellphone video following the violent 2017 arrest of Dale Culver has requested a stay of proceedings.
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
A federal law enforcement agency confirmed it's opened an investigation into Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he allegedly cut off the head of a dead whale and took it home two decades ago.
A judge in a rural Kentucky county was shot and killed in his courthouse chambers Thursday, and the local sheriff was charged with murder, police said.
Israel warned U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin in a call Tuesday that a military operation was going to take place in Lebanon but gave no details, U.S. officials said Thursday. The same day of the call, in an attack widely blamed on Israel, thousands of pagers belonging to Hezbollah militants exploded.
A 22-year-old woman who became an abortion rights advocate after she was raped by her stepfather as a child tells her story in a new campaign ad for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
South Korea’s government, western countries and adoption agencies worked in tandem to supply some 200,000 Korean children to parents overseas, despite years of evidence they were being procured through questionable or downright unscrupulous means, an investigation led by The Associated Press found.
Israeli security services said on Thursday they had arrested an Israeli citizen on suspicion of involvement in an Iranian-backed assassination plot targeting prominent people including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The head of Via Rail repeatedly told MPs a train delay over the Labour Day long weekend was an isolated incident, despite a similar event two years ago.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh got into a heated exchange in the House of Commons on Thursday, just minutes after Singh announced his party would not be supporting the Conservatives' first non-confidence motion against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tapped Treasury Board President Anita Anand to take on additional duties as Canada's minister of transport on Thursday.
Ontario’s Minister of Sport, Neil Lumsden, will donate his brain to research.
Manitobans are getting another reminder of how long wait times are for diagnostic images.
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Thanks to a special Texas law, NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the two veteran astronauts, will still be able to perform their civic duty, voting absentee from low-Earth orbit for the U.S. election in November.
Lebanese authorities on Thursday banned walkie-talkies and pagers from being taken on flights from Beirut airport, the National News Agency reported, after thousands of such devices exploded during a deadly attack on Hezbollah this week.
NASA scientists have successfully replicated spider-like shapes found on the surface of Mars in a laboratory setting for the first time.
Lawyers representing the producers of 'Russians at War' say they may pursue legal action against Ontario's public broadcaster for pulling support for the controversial documentary amid outcry from the Ukrainian community and some Canadian politicians.
Viewers of Jeopardy got a chance to test their knowledge of trivia about B.C.'s biggest city Wednesday night.
British actress Florence Pugh has revealed that shaving her head for her latest movie role was a 'really bizarre' experience that sent her body 'into a bit of trauma.'
A case involving stolen funds from a Saskatchewan business being used to purchase cryptocurrency will be heading back to the courts, thanks to a new decision by Saskatchewan's Court of Appeal.
Nike Inc. said Thursday it has named Elliott Hill as its president and CEO, replacing John Donahoe, who will retire next month.
Maple Leaf Foods asserted its innocence in an alleged bread price-fixing scheme ahead of a hearing to determine whether it will be added to an ongoing class-action lawsuit.
Only one Toronto restaurant earned a Michelin star this year, but it is not a first for the chef who brought the establishment to stardom.
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For most people, dinner on a cruise ship is a time to relax. But when influencer couple Abby and Matt Howard decided to kick back with a dinner à deux, they ended up kicking up a storm.
Shohei Ohtani became the first major league player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season, with the Los Angeles Dodgers star going deep twice to reach the half-century mark and swiping two bags to get to 51 against the Miami Marlins on Thursday.
Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he's been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season's playoffs.
Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette returned to the 10-day injured list Thursday due to a right middle finger fracture.
Video of a brazen daylight auto theft which shows a suspect running over a victim in a stolen luxury SUV has been released by police west of Toronto.
The plant was expected to produce batteries for a million electric vehicles a year. Once up and running, it was supposed to create hundreds of permanent jobs in a small southeastern Ontario municipality. But two years later, spending on the construction of the Umicore plant has been delayed in what the company calls a "significant worsening of the EV market context."
A Winnipeg man is asking for help after a classic car that has been a part of his family since the 1950s was stolen from his garage.
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Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.
David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.
Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.
A daytrip to the backcountry turned into a frightening experience for a Vancouver couple this weekend.
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Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
The 'Namgis First Nation says a fish farm it owns near Port McNeill shows the potential of land-based aquaculture in B.C.
Toronto police say a driver who crashed into a house in the city’s west end early Friday morning has been arrested on suspicion of impaired driving.
Toronto police are asking for the public's help in identifying one of the suspected shooters in Tuesday's fatal double shooting in North York.
A pedestrian has been seriously injured after being struck by a vehicle in North York.
We've produced a special webcast edition of CTV News Calgary for Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024.
The Parole Board of Canada says a man who assaulted a young pregnant woman and left her for dead remains too dangerous to be released into the community.
A Vulcan, Alta., man has been charged with a Lethbridge woman's murder after her body was found in the Oyen area.
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A byelection was called for the Bay of Quinte riding less than a week after Progressive Conservative MPP Todd Smith, Ontario's education minister at the time, resigned his seat in August.
CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at things to do in Ottawa and eastern Ontario this weekend.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is calling on the Bloc Quebecois to topple the Trudeau government next Wednesday and trigger a federal election.
A harrowing video has been presented to a jury at the trial of three men facing first-degree murder charges.
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
Five bison are dead at Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton following an early Thursday morning collision.
An Edmonton man who is charged with sexually assaulting a teen boy is a member of the Alberta sheriffs, CTV News Edmonton has confirmed.
The mayor of Fort Saskatchewan apologized on Thursday for comments she made earlier this week about killing feral cats.
Gas prices increased in all three Maritime provinces for the first time in more than a month.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has called for a provincial election. Voters will go to the polls on Oct. 21, as prescribed by the province's fixed-date election law.
Police are asking people to avoid the Dartmouth Commons area in Dartmouth, N.S., as they assist with a wildlife call for a bear.
Manitobans are continuing to mop up after a deluge of rain hit southern Manitoba earlier in the week.
Shamattawa RCMP are searching for a missing six-year-old boy who hasn’t been seen since Wednesday morning.
A Winnipeg pet rescue is putting out a warning to dog owners across the city about a possible parvovirus in the province.
A social media post of purple apples “growing†in Saskatchewan has sparked a lot of attention. However, garden experts say there's no such thing.
A case involving stolen funds from a Saskatchewan business being used to purchase cryptocurrency will be heading back to the courts, thanks to a new decision by Saskatchewan's Court of Appeal.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has confirmed a tornado touched down Wednesday evening near Langbank, Sask.
Amber and Adam Brueckner have a pool-shaped hole in their backyard – and their wallets.
New details have been shared about a missing family that was last seen on Sept. 1 in Kitchener, Ont.
Police are trying to identify a man who approached a woman and child in Wellesley.
A gym teacher at a private Christian school in Saskatoon has been charged. Terra MacEwan, 44, is charged with assault with a weapon. A Saskatoon mother who spoke with CTV News says her autistic son was MacEwan's victim.
Thomas Hamp says he believed secret police were out to kidnap, torture, and kill him when he fatally stabbed his girlfriend Emily Sanche in February of 2022.
A social media post of purple apples “growing†in Saskatchewan has sparked a lot of attention. However, garden experts say there's no such thing.
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As northern Ontario gets ready to welcome autumn this weekend, it’s still feeling a lot like summer as provincial forest fire crews continue to battle blazes.
James Bay Ontario Provincial Police have charged four commercial vehicle drivers with impaired, including one who was hauling 36,000 kilograms of ammonia hydrate.
Police were focusing their attention on the northeast corner of Richmond and Horton, with members of the emergency response unit taking up positions at the scene.
Shedden, southwest of London, hasn’t changed much in decades – but word is spreading that hundreds of new residents could soon be calling the town home.
A Woodstock homeowner says she’s at her wit’s end over a homeless encampment situated alongside her backyard. She’s calling on the city to do more to help those living rough, so she can live in peace.
Two men from Barrie have been charged after a deadly shooting at a park in Keswick on Wednesday.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
A 32-year-old man is facing charges after police say his vehicle struck a child in an Owen Sound intersection.
The Windsor Police Service (WPS) has seized over $56,000 in drugs and have arrested one suspect.
SERVEONE Canada, a global procurement solution company, has begun Canadian operations in Tecumseh.
Enrolment may be down at St. Clair College, but President Mike Silvaggi isn’t bothered.
In a rare move, the Greater Victoria School District Board of Education has been slapped with a ministerial order from the province requiring it to update a student safety plan – drawing concern around political posturing leading up to an election.
The Union of B.C. Municipalities is asking the provincial government to make transit free for teenagers.
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A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.
The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.
Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.
A Vulcan, Alta., man has been charged with a Lethbridge woman's murder after her body was found in the Oyen area.
A Lethbridge couple got a good reminder as to why you should keep your vehicle doors locked at all times.
Lethbridge residents who live near the police range can expect to hear plenty of shots fired Wednesday and Thursday.
A new community health profile in the Algoma District shows the area is significantly below provincial averages in a number of health metrics.
North Bay Police Service says one person has died following an industrial accident at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission Rail Yard on Tuesday.
Three northern Ontario residents are charged with drug trafficking after the vehicle they were in got stuck along a bush road off Highway 17 on Monday.
Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
A 16-year-old biennial event aimed at fostering business in the country's eastern Arctic and northern regions has been cancelled indefinitely as a dispute unfolds between Inuit in Canada and a Labrador group claiming to share their heritage.
Jim Lester’s farm hopped on the cow-cuddling trend in early August, and his time slots have been pretty well sold out ever since.
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