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Tennis stars are demanding answers about Peng Shuai, whose disappearance underscored China’s savage authoritarianism again a few months before the Winter Olympics.
Xinhua News Agency / Xinhua News Agency / Getty Images
Peng Shuai at the Australian Open in January 2020
The message was on the net for a few minutes, but its shock waves have resonated around the world.
“I was terribly scared that afternoon,” tennis player Peng Shuai wrote November 2 message on Weibo, Chinese version of Twitter. “I never gave permission, crying all the time.”
Peng, a former world-ranked doubles player who has won championships at Wimbledon and the French Open, said he was sexually assaulted by a prominent figure in the Chinese Communist Party: Zhang Gaoli, a former Chinese prime minister and predecessor. member of the party’s Politburo Standing Committee.
The 35-year-old tennis star said Zhang, 75, was raped several years ago. They later had a consensual relationship again, again, he said.
“I feel like a walking corpse,” Peng wrote.
His allegation of sexual assault – which Peng acknowledged in his message that has not been independently confirmed by others – was the first to be publicly raised against someone who was so senior in the Chinese government.
The message was quickly removed by Chinese censors, and even searches for his name were blocked in China.
It has not been seen in public since.
The disappearance of one of China’s leading athletes just months before the Winter Olympics is once again shedding light on the country’s savage authoritarianism. a history of human rights repression.
Read more: Olympic officials dismiss human rights concerns over Beijing Games in video call on Documents Show
On Friday, the United Nations Office of Human Rights he told reporters he wanted proof of his “whereabouts and well-being.”
Tennis stars have sided with Peng, flooding social media with the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai.
“I’m shocked and amazed to hear the news from my peer Peng Shuai,” Serena Williams said he wrote Thursday. “I hope to be safe and find it as soon as possible. This needs to be investigated and we should not be silent. ”
“Censorship is never good at all costs,” Naomi Osaka wrote on Tuesday.
The whereabouts of female tennis player Peng Shuai are unknown after she reported sexual abuse to a Chinese government official. This talk gives us a reminder and gives us hope that things can change in the future ???? #WhereIsPengShuai https://t.co/eKnLCHcPLj
Twitter: @andy_murray
Amid growing international attention to his situation, Chinese state media suddenly on Thursday has released an email said Peng, president of the Women’s Tennis Association, wrote to Steve Simon.
The letter, the veracity of which could not be verified, said Peng was resting at home and had never allowed the original “no truth” statement to be published on Weibo.
But in one statement on Thursday, Simon said the alleged Peng letter only made him more afraid of his safety.
“I find it hard to believe that Peng Shuai actually wrote the email we received or believes it is attributed to him,” he said.
He called for “independent and verifiable evidence” of his safety and a full investigation into his claims.
“Peng Shua should be allowed to speak freely, without any coercion or fear,” Simon said. “His allegation of sexual assault must be respected, investigated with full transparency and without censorship.”
Simon he told CNN The WTA was willing to do no business with China, and thus lose hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue if Peng was not taken into account.
“This is bigger than business,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the Women’s Sports Foundation, a tennis legend who founded U.S. nonprofit Billie Jean King in 1974, told BuzzFeed News that they supported the WTA’s stance.
“We are deeply concerned and concerned about Peng Shuai’s disappearance and allegations of his sexual assault,” the spokesman said. “We support the WTA’s requirements for verifiable evidence of its security and to respect and investigate its allegations with full transparency.”
But the letter was supposed to be enough for the International Olympic Committee, which has mostly been silent on the disappearance of an Olympian three times.
“We have seen the latest reports and we are assured that it is safe,” an IOC spokesman said on Thursday.
That was a warm statement they have pleaded not guilty according to large parts du Western media and non-governmental organizations.
South China Morning Post / South China Morning Post via Getty Images
Zhang Gaoli, then Chinese Vice Premier, gave a speech in Beijing in May 2017.
Human Rights Watch is also an international advocacy group embarrassed KOI because what was said was “acceptance” of the “line” of the Chinese Government.
“It’s amazing that the COI accepts the government’s assurances, especially at the expense of someone who makes serious allegations about an Olympic woman,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch.
The team asked athletes, sports fans and sponsors of the Winter Games to talk about human rights in China.
“The Olympics should be a celebration of humanity, not an opportunity to mistreat athletes and clean up crimes against humanity,” Worden said.
After a virtual meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, President Joe Biden said this week that he is considering a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Games.
Amnesty International he said he was very worried about Peng seeing the trajectory that had crushed China’s dissent.
“Peng’s recent statement that‘ everything is fine ’should not be taken in a vacuum, as the Chinese state media has a history of forcing statements on people who are forced to, or simply fabricating them,” said Chinese researcher Doriane Amnesty International. Lau. “These concerns will not go away unless Peng’s safety and whereabouts are confirmed.”
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