Story at a glance
- The Chinese tennis star on Nov. 2 accused a former high-ranking Chinese politician of sexually assaulting her three years ago. She has not been seen or heard from since.
- The Women’s Tennis Association has called for an investigation into her allegations and has threatened to pull future WTA events out of China if it does not comply.
- An email released by Chinese state media that purportedly came from Peng said she was safe and the allegations she made were false. The WTA does not believe that statement came from Peng.
Concerns are mounting globally as the whereabouts of tennis star Peng Shuai, who has not been seen or heard from since early this month when she accused a former Chinese official of sexually assaulting her, remain unconfirmed.
Peng on Nov. 2 posted allegations against former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Though her post was taken down within minutes, screenshots of her statement have been circulated online.
In her post, Peng accused Zhang of forcing her to have sex with him at his home three years ago after he had invited her there to play tennis. Years earlier, Peng said, she had reluctantly agreed to an extramarital relationship with Zhang, not uncommon for politicians in China.
Peng wrote that while she could not produce evidence to support her accusations against Zhang, “I will tell the truth about you.”
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It’s the first time such an accusation has been made against a high-ranking Communist Party official, The New York Times reported.
China’s “Me Too” movement has struggled to gain traction in the face of strict censorship, and, following her post, Peng appeared to have disappeared from the internet. Comments on her Weibo account were disabled and references to her were removed from the internet in China. Even internet searches of Peng, a two-time Grand Slam doubles champion, and the word “tennis” produced no results.
No official statement has been made by either China’s government or Zhang. Earlier this week a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters he had no knowledge of the incident and refused to comment further as it “wasn’t a diplomatic matter.”
The same day, Chinese state media released an email it said Peng had sent to Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) chief executive Steve Simon, telling him that she is safe and the allegations she had made earlier are untrue.
Simon and the WTA have cast doubt on the message’s authenticity.
“I have a hard time believing that Peng Shuai actually wrote the email we received or believes what is being attributed to her,” Simon wrote in a statement.
Simon has called for a full investigation into Peng’s allegations and said he is willing to pull future WTA events out of China if it doesn’t comply.
“We’re definitely willing to pull our business and deal with all the complications that come with it,” he told CNN this week. “Because this is certainly — this is bigger than the business. Women need to be respected and not censored.”
Other tennis stars, like Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic, are also calling for action.
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