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Former doubles world number one Peng has not been seen or heard
from publicly since she said on Chinese social media on Nov. 2
that former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli coerced her into sex
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/
china-tennis-star-peng-says-ex-vice-premier-forced-her-into-sex-2021-11-03
and they later had an on-off consensual relationship.
Neither Zhang or the Chinese government have commented on her
allegation. Peng's social media post was quickly deleted and the
topic has been blocked from discussion on China's heavily
censored internet.
Concern https://www.reuters.com/article/tennis-china-peng-itf/tennis-itf-says-player-safety-top-priority-amid-concerns-over-chinas-peng-idINL1N2S91BO
among the global tennis community and beyond has grown over
Peng's safety and whereabouts since her allegation, with the WTA
calling for an investigation. Some of the world's top tennis
players, including Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, as well as
the German Olympic Committee, have tweeted #WhereIsPengShuai.
The issue has also emerged as China prepares to host the Winter
Olympics in Beijing in February amid calls from global rights
groups and others for a boycott over its human rights record.
The International Olympic Committee has declined to comment on
Peng's matter, saying it believed "quiet diplomacy" offered the
best opportunity for a solution.
Liz Throssell, a U.N. human rights spokesperson, called for
proof of her whereabouts and wellbeing as well a transparent
investigation into her allegations.
WTA Chief Executive Steve Simon told various U.S. media outlets
on Thursday the tour would consider pulling tournaments worth
tens of millions of dollars out of China.
"We're definitely willing to pull our business and deal with all
the complications that come with it," he told CNN in an
interview.
"Because this is certainly, this is bigger than the business.
Women need to be respected and not censored."
FOCUS OF EXPANSION
Hu Xijin, the editor of the Global Times, responded to Simon's
comments
https://twitter.com/HuXijin_GT/status/
1461616999897862148 on Friday on Twitter, saying "don't use a
coercive tone when expressing any concern to China.
"Perhaps you did it out of goodwill. But you should understand
China, including understanding how the system you dislike has
promoted the actual rights of the 1.4 billion Chinese," said Hu,
whose newspaper is published by the ruling Communist Party's
official People's Daily.
The WTA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on
Hu's tweet.
China has been the focus of the WTA's most aggressive expansion
over the last decade and hosted nine tournaments in the 2019
season with a total $30.4 million of prize money on offer.
The season-ending WTA Finals had a prize purse of $14 million in
2019 when it was played in Shenzhen for the first time.
The Finals were cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic
and moved this year to Guadalajara, Mexico, but the WTA has said
it will return to Shenzhen from 2022 until 2030.
Streaming platform iQiyi is the WTA's digital rights partner in
China, signing a 10-year deal reportedly worth $120 million. The
deal commenced in 2017.
HEAVILY CENSORED IN CHINA
The hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai has so far racked up over 32
million mentions on Facebook's Instagram and Twitter, according
to hashtag analysis website BrandMentions. Both platforms are
blocked in China.
In contrast, the topic remains heavily censored in China's
tightly controlled cyberspace. As of Friday, searches for the
WTA's official account on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform
yielded no results although its account remained available.
Peng's name on Weibo also continues to show no search results.
Peng had not been seen or heard from since her post until
Wednesday, when the WTA's Simon said he had received an email
purporting to be from Peng and denying the allegations of sexual
assault, which he cast doubt over https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/wtas-simon-voices-concern-over-statement-attributed-peng-2021-11-18.
A Chinese state media outlet also released the letter on
Twitter.
Hu, who has a uniquely high profile in China's tightly
controlled state media, weighed in on the scandal on Twitter
earlier on Friday, saying he does not believe she has been the
target of retribution.
"As a person who is familiar with Chinese system, I don't
believe Peng Shuai has received retaliation and repression
speculated by foreign media for the thing people talked about,"
he said on Twitter. He did not make any similar comment on his
official account on Weibo.
(Reporting by Tony Munroe in Beijing and Nick Mulvenney in
Sydney; Additional reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai;
Editing by Lincoln Feast, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Kim Coghill and
Alex Richardson)
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