The United States is “deeply concerned” about China’s lost tennis star

The United States and the United Nations are demanding evidence of the “stay and well-being” of missing Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai on Friday and demanding an investigation into his sexual violence.

The White House was “deeply concerned by reports that Peng Shuai appears to be missing,” press secretary Jen Psaki said at a news conference.

The three-time Olympic champion and former number one player in the women’s quadruple has not been seen in public since the release of her social media account made allegations of sexual violence against former Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Gaol, a member of China’s almighty Politburo. Chinese Communist Party Standing Committee and Party Secretary-General Xi Jinping. The message was later deleted.

“All reports of sexual violence should be investigated, and we support a woman’s ability to speak and seek responsibility, either here or elsewhere in the world,” Psaki said.

The UN agreed with these views.

It was “important to have evidence of his whereabouts and well-being,” Elizabeth Throssell, a spokeswoman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told a news conference on Friday.

“It was a challenging issue because it was difficult for victims of sexual violence to come forward to argue,” he added. “Sexual violence was observed in every society. It was important to ensure victims’ rights and responsibilities. ”

Meanwhile, in an attempt to dispel his worries about his disappearance, a Chinese state TV employee posted photos of Peng on Twitter on Friday that most Chinese internet users don’t see.

Shen Shiwei wrote pictures of Peng showing a gray cat and holding a panda character in a private home with stuffed animals in a row behind them in Peng’s account on the WeChat messaging service with the comment “Happy Weekend.”

There was no information on when the photos were taken, and NBC News has not been able to verify their authenticity.

Shen works for CGTN, the English-language division of China Talk Television, aimed at foreign audiences.

A reporter for the Global Times newspaper, an English-language newspaper published by the Communist Party, said on Twitter that it had confirmed from unknown sources that the images “are indeed the current state of Peng Shua.”

“In the last few days, he stayed in his own home freely, and he didn’t want to be disturbed,” Hu Xijin wrote. “He will be in the public eye soon and will be involved in some activities.”

He later posted to his Twitter account two video clips of Peng that he said was filmed local time on Saturday. NBC News was unable to confirm this.

The photos were released after several tennis players, including Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic, talked about Peng’s disappearance, as well as rights groups, retired players and lobbying by several athletes – in an attempt to change their profile to power.

Steve Simon, president and CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association, has threatened to pull WTA events out of China. That means nearly a dozen next year, including the WTA final.

NBC News has contacted the Chinese Tennis Association to comment. NBC News also tried to reach Zhang, who retired in 2018 and is no longer in the public eye.

The controversy is politically awkward as the Chinese capital prepares to hold the Winter Olympics in February. A Foreign Ministry spokesman denied on Friday that he was aware of the uproar over Peng’s disappearance.