Monday 15th November 2021
Politicians accused of abuse
Chinese tennis star disappeared without a trace
There has been no trace of Peng Shuai for two weeks. The Chinese tennis player accuses the ex-vice premier of abuse, and since then there has been no sign of life from her. A few months before the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, this again casts a bad light on the great power.
There was also silence in Beijing on Monday: The leaders of the ruling Communist Party are still silent on the serious allegations made by tennis professional Peng Shuai against China’s former Vice Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli. But the pressure on the authorities of the host country of the 2022 Winter Olympics is increasing. Now the WTA is getting involved.
Steve Simon, the president of the players’ association, demanded in a statement a “complete, fair and transparent” investigation of the allegations of abuse “without censorship” and expressed his determination in an interview with the New York Times to take action if necessary. He is also considering stopping lucrative business with the Middle Kingdom. The prestigious annual finale of the WTA tour in Shenzhen usually rises, among other things, this year it was relocated to Mexico due to the corona pandemic.
Peng, the 35-year-old former Wimbledon winner and number one in doubles, wrote in the Twitter-like medium Weibo earlier this month that she was sexually abused by Zhang. The entry in the social media was deleted, nothing more has been heard from Peng since then. The facts are difficult to determine.
Colleague in concern
The 18-time Grand Slam winner Chris Evert from the USA was concerned about the situation. “I’ve known Peng since she was 14 years old,” wrote Evert on Twitter: “We should all be concerned, this is serious. Where is she? Is she safe? We would be grateful for any information.” The Chinese Foreign Ministry received no information on Monday. A spokesman stated that he had “not heard anything” about the issue raised. He added that it was “not a diplomatic issue” and did not comment on it.
China has already reacted sensitively to criticism from abroad in the past. In the 2019 NBA conflict, the state TV stations temporarily stopped broadcasting because Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey showed solidarity with the protesting people in Hong Kong. A tweet from Mesut Özil, who campaigned for the Muslim Uyghur minority, caused serious resentment and the disappearance of his former employer, Arsenal FC, from the television program.
Now the Peng case is also becoming more and more a political issue and could further influence the perception of the Winter Games in Beijing from February 4th. Even before that, experts repeatedly criticized the award to China with reference to the human rights situation in the huge Asian country.