The WTA is still unable to locate Chinese tennis star Peng Shua

The Women’s Tennis Association says it is still unable to independently locate star Chinese tennis player Peng Shua for weeks after the professional athlete made allegations of sexual violence against a former Chinese government official.

Steve Simon, president and CEO of WTA, said on Wednesday that he had repeatedly tried to contact Peng without success, hours after Chinese state media. posted a screenshot from a message allegedly coming from a tennis player.

In a statement posted on the Twitter account of the Chinese state broadcaster CGTN, Peng said he was neither missing nor ill and that he was resting at home.

However, Simon said the statement “only raises my concerns about his safety and whereabouts” and that he had “a hard time believing that Peng Shuai actually wrote the email … or believing what he is considered to be.”

He added: “Peng Shua must be allowed to speak freely without coercion or intimidation from any source. He claims that sexual violence must be respected, fully investigated and without censorship.

On November 2, Peng released a long allegation about sexual violence in his verified personal Weibo account against former Chinese Premier Zhang Gaol. Social media posting was quickly removed and there is no evidence of him since.

The WTA on Sunday called for an investigation into Peng’s allegations and told The New York Times that the organization was willing to withdraw its business from China if it did not see “proper results” from such an investigation.

Meanwhile, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, the world’s best-paid female athlete, drew attention to Peng’s case on Tuesday. “Censorship is never okay at any cost, I hope Peng Shuai and his family are safe and fit,” he wrote on Twitter, adding the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai.

The deepening mystery of Peng’s whereabouts comes less than three months before China is scheduled to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Last week, Human Rights Watch, headquartered in the United States, said it had sent letters to all gaming corporate sponsors urging them to speak out against human rights abuses in China, but it had not received a response.

It is still unclear whether Western countries, including the United States, intend to do some sort of diplomatic boycott of the games, which the United States last took up against Russia at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Peng is currently ranked 191 on the WTA doubles tour, but was once the best doubles.