*Undated
A Chinese tennis player has reportedly gone missing, and had her social media posts deleted, after accusing Beijing's former vice premier of sexual abuse.
Peng Shuai posted accusations that she was abused by Zhang Gaoli last week on Chinese social media site Weibo, known as the Chinese Facebook.
The post, which claimed that Zhang had forced the 35-year-old into sex, was deleted soon after and reportedly the word wangqiu, tennis in Chinese, was even censored on the site for some time after. Zhang, who is now 75-years-old, who was a high ranking member of the Communist Party was accused of having an affair with the 2014 French Open doubles champion in 2011.
Peng then claimed that he rekindled things in 2018, after inviting her for dinner and then pressured her into having sex, which she refused before eventually relenting. The former world number one doubles player has not been seen since the accusations and that the deleted post isn't the only thing to happen to her profile.
The post was gone from Weibo, which is said to be heavily monitored by the Chinese government, after just 20 minutes and the rest of her profile soon followed. Peng's profile was disabled at first, and she couldn't be found through a search, but it has since been found and does come up on a Google search.
The player did admit she had no evidence of their prior affair, or the sexual abuse she claims happens, because the politician wanted to keep the whole thing a secret.
It's not known why she chose the timing of her recent post, but it did say, "You’ve said you are not afraid. "But even as an egg hurled at a rock, a moth to a flame for self-destruction, I will speak the truth with you." A spokesman for Beijing's foreign ministry was asked about the accusations earlier this month but they refused to answer the questions. It's not known why she chose the timing of her recent post, but it did say, "You’ve said you are not afraid. But even as an egg hurled at a rock, a moth to a flame for self-destruction, I will speak the truth with you."
A spokesman for Beijing's foreign ministry was asked about the accusations earlier this month but they refused to answer the questions. Instead they just said, "I have not heard of it and it is not a diplomatic question."
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has now called for a “full, fair, and transparent investigation” into allegations of sexual assault made by the player against a former Chinese vice premier. China's internet is heavily censored and the private lives of top leaders are an especially sensitive subject. Zhang, now 75, was a vice premier between 2013 and 2018 and served on the Politburo Standing Committee, China’s top decision-making body, between 2012 and 2017.
"The recent events in China concerning a WTA player, Peng Shuai, are of deep concern,” said WTA Tour Chairman and CEO Steve Simon in a statement. “Peng Shuai, and all women, deserve to be heard, not censored. Her accusation about the conduct of a former Chinese leader involving a sexual assault must be treated with the utmost seriousness.” Peng was the world number one doubles player in 2014, the first Chinese player to achieve a top ranking after winning the doubles titles at Wimbledon in 2013 and the French Open in 2014.
China, the focus of the Tour’s most aggressive expansion over the last 10 years, hosted nine tournaments in the 2019 season, including the elite WTA Finals, with a total of $30.4m prize money on offer.
The season-ending WTA Finals, contested by the world’s top eight singles players and eight doubles teams, had a prize purse of $14m in 2019 when it was played in Shenzhen for the first time. The Finals event was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and moved this year to Guadalajara, Mexico. The WTA said that the tournament will return to Shenzhen from 2022 and the Chinese city will host every edition until 2030.