A Chinese Tennis Star Accused A Top Official Of Sexual Assault. Then She Disappeared.
Tennis stars are demanding answers about Peng Shuai, whose disappearance has again underscored China’s brutal authoritarianism just months before it hosts the Winter Olympics.
by David MackPosted on November 19, 2021, 9:01 pm
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Xinhua News Agency / Xinhua News Agency / Getty Images Peng Shuai at the Australian Open in January 2020
{ "id": 128212890 }The message was only online for a few minutes, but its shock waves have reverberated around the world.
“I was so scared that afternoon,” tennis player Peng Shuai wrote in her Nov. 2 message on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter. “I never gave consent, crying the entire time.”
Peng, a former world No. 1–ranked doubles player who has won championships at Wimbledon and the French Open, said she was sexually assaulted by one of the Chinese Communist Party’s most prominent people: Zhang Gaoli, a former vice premier of China and previous member of the party’s Politburo Standing Committee.
The 35-year-old tennis star said Zhang, 75, had raped her several years ago. They later had an on-again, off-again consensual relationship, she said.
“I feel like a walking corpse,” Peng wrote.
Her allegation of sexual assault — which, as Peng acknowledged in her post, has not been independently corroborated by others — was the first to be raised publicly against someone who had been so senior in China’s government.
The post was swiftly taken down by Chinese censors, with even searches for her name blocked in China.
She has not been seen in public since.
The disappearance of one of China’s top athletes just months before the country is due to host the Winter Olympics has again shone a light on the country’s brutal authoritarianism and repressive human rights record.
{ "id": 128212890 }Read more: Olympic Officials Dismissed Beijing Games Human Rights Concerns In A Video Call, Documents Show
{ "id": 128212890 }On Friday, the United Nations human rights office told reporters it wanted proof of her “whereabouts and wellbeing.”
Top tennis stars have since rallied to Peng’s cause, flooding social media with the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai.
“I am devastated and shocked to hear about the news of my peer, Peng Shuai,” Serena Williams wrote Thursday. “I hope she is safe and found as soon as possible. This must be investigated and we must not stay silent.”
“Censorship is never OK at any cost,” Naomi Osaka wrote Tuesday.
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NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ @naomiosaka . #WhereIsPengShuai
09:36 PM - 16 Nov 2021 Reply Retweet Favorite Twitter: @naomiosaka { "id": "1461297903629180935", "params": { "conversation": "none" } }
Stanislas Wawrinka @stanwawrinka #WhereIsPengShuai
11:39 AM - 18 Nov 2021 Reply Retweet Favorite Twitter: @stanwawrinka { "id": "1461606490444378121", "params": { "conversation": "none" } }
Andy Murray @andy_murray Female tennis player Peng Shuai whereabouts currently unknown after making Sexual abuse allegations against Chinese government official. This speech gives us a reminder and some hope that things can change in the future
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Originally posted on: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/peng-shuai-missing-mystery