Europe 1 with AFP
A journalist posted a new video and photo, unauthenticated, of tennis player Peng Shuai, whose fate worries the tennis community, on Sunday. These images show Peng Shuai posing with other Chinese sports figures with the Shanghai Yangpu Bridge in the background.
A reporter for a Chinese state media posted a new video and photo, unauthenticated, of tennis player Peng Shuai, whose fate worries the tennis community after her accusations against a former senior official, on Sunday. Chinese. Qingqing Chen, media reporter Global Times, tweeted a seven-second video showing former world number 1 in doubles chatting with former basketball star Yao Ming.
According to the reporter, the video was sent to her by a friend and was shot during a Nordic skiing promotion event in Shanghai. Peng Shuai accused former Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli in early November of forcing him to have sex three years ago. Her message, posted on a social network, was promptly censored and the 35-year-old disappeared from radar screens for three weeks, causing concern in the tennis world.
So happy to see some of these prominent Chinese sports stars, besides Yao Ming and Peng Shuai, also, Olympic sailing champion Xu Lijia and table tennis Wang Liqin, cheer for ice sports ahead of @ Beijing2022pic.twitter.com/3xP5CyrPhX
– Qingqing_Chen (@qingqingparis) December 19, 2021
Alongside other Chinese athletes
The photo released on Sunday shows Peng Shuai posing with Yao Ming and two other Chinese sports figures: sailor Xu Lijia and former table tennis player Wang Liqin. Behind them, you can see the Shanghai Yangpu Bridge and a “FIS Cross-Country Skiing China City Tour” banner. The Shanghai stage of the Nordic ski circuit took place on Saturday, according to state media CGTN. Twitter is not normally accessible in China. Only people with a VPN system can use it. Many diplomats and state media, however, have an account to ensure a Chinese presence.
Since the disappearance of Peng Shuai in mid-November, the WTA, the body governing the women’s world circuit, has canceled all its tournaments in China and calls for a transparent investigation into the player’s accusations. Chinese media have repeatedly published photos of the player, as well as a screenshot of an email attributed to her that says “everything is fine” but the authenticity of which raises serious doubts. .
The player also had a half-hour videoconference chat with the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach. But the WTA and many tennis personalities continue to demand more transparency from China on the fate of the young woman.