Photo: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian

Responding to a question over US financial firm Morgan Stanley facing scrutiny from US House China committee over whether the bank performed enough due diligence in underwriting the Hong Kong IPO of Zijin Gold International Co in September, a deal it claimed may have helped Zijin's parent Zijin Mining Group, which has been blacklisted by the US for allegedly using forced labor in China's Xinjiang, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Friday that "I'm not familiar with the commercial behavior you mentioned," but the allegation of so-called "forced labor" in Xinjiang is a fabricated lie concocted by anti-China forces.

By repeatedly peddling this long-debunked narrative and unreasonably cracking down on Chinese enterprises, the actions of the US institution - notorious for fabricating baseless accusations to smear China - will only further expose the institution's lack of credibility and its essence of political manipulation, ultimately harming its own interests and reputation, Lin said.