Monday, December 20, 2021
Tenisstar revokes allegations
Peng Shuai speaks of “misunderstandings”
In early November, Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai made rape allegations against communist party official Zhang Gaoli. It is not only the tennis world that is concerned about the sportswoman, who has long disappeared from the public eye. Now the 35-year-old speaks out.
In a first public statement since her disappearance, the Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai has denied the rape allegations against the high-ranking communist party official Zhang Gaoli. “I have never said or written anything in which I accused anyone of sexually harassing me,” the 35-year-old told the Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao in Singapore. “I want to emphasize this point very clearly.” The women’s tennis association WTA remained concerned about Peng’s well-being.
Peng, the double winner at Wimbledon and the French Open, had not been seen in public for more than two weeks after making rape allegations against Zhang on the Weibo online service in early November. In a video published by the newspaper, Peng said it was a “private matter” and that there had been “a lot of misunderstanding”.
WTA continues to have doubts about Peng’s well-being
The shaky video appears to show Peng at a sporting event in Shanghai. She wears a red T-shirt and a down jacket that says “China” and appears to be talking to the Chinese basketball player Yao Ming. When asked if she had been monitored since the allegations were reported, Peng replied that she was “always very free”.
The women’s tennis association WTA said in response to the video that it continues to demand a “complete, fair and transparent” investigation into the case. The admission had “neither reduced nor allayed the considerable concerns of the WTA with regard to their well-being and their ability to communicate freely from censorship or coercion,” the association said.
Peng and Zhang had had a secret relationship with many interruptions for years. The disappearance of the sportswoman caused a great stir internationally. After increasing international pressure, state media published recordings that showed Peng, among other things, at a tennis tournament in Beijing. At the end of November, Peng also had a half-hour video call with the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach.