Why the Women’s Tennis Association rallied in support of Peng Shuai Women’s Rights News

A prominent Chinese citizen associated with a major international organization disappears, and then a letter is sent stating that all is well. The organization appears to be accepting the letter, although questions remain before the public appears compelled a month later.

The situation is different, but there is a similar thread in the disappearance of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, who last month accused former deputy prime minister Zhang Gaoli of sexual misconduct, and former head of Interpol Meng Hongwei. extinct He prayed for her trip to China in 2018 and 18 months later guilty to corruption. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

After Meng’s disappearance, Interpol announced its resignation, and General Secretary Jurgen Stock told the Associated Press that the investigation into the internal rules of the international police force was banned.

Things could have been the same for Peng, a world-class athlete and Olympian, after a post on social media about his suffering with Zhang. deleted, Except that the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) immediately began to back down. Famous tennis players also followed, among others Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams.

The WTA has continued to raise questions even after the Chinese state broadcaster CGTN shared one email He said on Twitter that Peng was “missing” or “unsafe” and that his allegations were “untrue”. He reappeared in public a few days later and spoke with the International Olympic Committee about what is now widely criticized. Video call.

“[It] it does not make it clear that it is free and able to make decisions and take action on its own, without compulsion or outside interference, “said Steve Simon, WTA President and CEO.

After the WTA repeatedly expressed concern about Peng Shua’s well-being, the IOC said it had made a video call with the player and released a still photo of the call. [IOC via EPA]

On Wednesday night, the WTA announced the “immediate suspension” of all tournaments in China and Hong Kong. China hosted nine WTA events in 2019 and signed a 10-year deal a year earlier to host the WTA finals in Shenzhen, according to Reuters news agency.

“It’s really crazy that the Women’s Tennis Association has more credibility than Interpol when it comes to making serious holes in China’s grave human rights violations, kidnappings of members of its organization and coercive statements and propaganda,” she said. Michael Caster, founder of Safeguard Defenders, a human rights watchdog that controls China’s disappearances.

‘Not acceptable’

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has accused critics and the media of making a “bad announcement” and politicizing Peng’s disappearance from the public.

Meanwhile, Zhang, a senior member at the center of Peng’s allegations, has not been seen in public for several weeks, according to Caster.

He described Peng’s situation as part of the same “game book” used by the Chinese government when it raised concerns about the well-being of citizens or foreigners living in China – from human rights lawyer Wang Yu to Swedish human rights activist Peter Dahlin. become one of the founders of Safeguard Defenders.

“These farcical public presentations of Peng Shuai are clearly part of a propaganda effort and that’s because we’ve seen this film before,” Caster told Al Jazeera.

Announcing the suspension of the tournament, WTA’s Simon stressed that China’s treatment of Peng’s case was not acceptable and should not be acceptable.

“Powerful people can remove women’s voices and erase sexual assaults under the rug, then the foundations on which the WTA was created — women’s equality — would suffer a tremendous setback,” Simon said in a statement. “I don’t and I can’t let that happen to the WTA and its players.”

Game, set and match @WTA in the grand slam for sport and human rights #China! Steve Simon has announced that the WTA has decided to suspend the Chinese championships … via @WTA https://t.co/LlZ7yW86BQ @hrw @MinkysHighjinks @hrw

– Sophie Richardson (@SophieHRW) December 1, 2021

I applaud Steve Simon and @WTA Leadership in China and around the world for strong human rights. The WTA is on the right side of history to help our players.

This is another reason why women’s tennis is a leader in women’s sports. https://t.co/PHiU0S7Prw

– Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) December 1, 2021

Other international sports organizations have already targeted Beijing for positions taken by players and officials.

China briefly stopped broadcasting NBA games after Houston Rockets coach Daryl Morey tweeted his support for Hong Kong’s 2019 democracy protests and removed Premier League footballer Mesut Ozil from the Chinese Internet after China spoke out against China’s treatment of Muslim Uighurs.

Recently, the NBA’s Boston Celtics have been banned from broadcasting in China, as Enes Kanter, their center, President Xi Jinping and China continue to criticize Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet for their treatment of Taiwan.

Time to consider

The WTA, however, had the political impetus and momentum on its side to allow the organization to take a calculated risk, says Simon Chadwick, a professor of international sports at Emlyon Business School in France.

Peng’s case and allegations of sexual misconduct also come at a time when the #MeToo allegations and mental health are being considered in the sports world, following public struggles by athletes like Osaka and the American gymnast. Simone Biles.

“The first thing for the WTA is that women and girls are their main business. It’s the foundation of the organization, and not helping someone who has apparently disappeared would undermine what the WTA is doing,” Chadwick said.

“My feeling is that the WTA probably made a calculation and decided that there was a chance of losing more globally without saying anything, and then that it was going to be lost, basically by facing China.”

Chadwick says that despite major investments in the Chinese tennis industry, women’s tennis has not taken off as quickly as the WTA initially anticipated.

The agreement with China has also been hampered by the pandemic. So far, Shenzhen has hosted only one WTA final event in 2019. The 2020 final was canceled due to coronavirus, and the 2021 event was moved to Mexico after another Covid-19 outbreak in China.

The NBA was under pressure in China after Houston Rockets coach Daryl Morey tweeted his support to Hong Kong protesters in 2019. [File: Xihao Jiang/Reuters]

This can give it a latitude that is not available to teams like the WTA IOC, which will host the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in February. The organization has also suffered from a pandemic with the Tokyo Olympics, which has been delayed by a year and attended by a large number of spectators.

After Peng’s disappearance, the COI said it would “continue to open dialogue with the Chinese Olympic movement at all levels” after questions about Peng, according to the Associated Press.

Emma Terho, chairman of the IOC’s Sports Committee, said on Twitter that the organization prefers a policy of “quiet diplomacy”.

Located in the Republican state of Florida, the WTA may have felt some political pressure beyond Beijing.

Washington is considering boycotting the Winter Games protest against human rights abuses in places like Xinjiang and Hong Kong, Chadwick warned.

“I wonder how much political pressure there could have been from the United States to respond to the WTA. I think they reacted very, very quickly from the WTA’s point of view … unusually fast, in two or three days,” he said.

On Wednesday, Simon expressed regret at the need to suspend events in China, but said he was “very concerned” about the dangers that players and staff could face if events were held in the country in 2022.

He asked Beijing again to prove that Peng was free and able to speak “without interference or intimidation” and to investigate the allegations of the attacks.

“I remain confident that our requests will be heard and that the Chinese authorities will take steps to address this issue legally.”