WTA: A Chinese tennis player’s call with the Olympic chief is not enough

SHANGHAI, Nov 22 (Reuters) – Chinese tennis player Peng Shui’s video call with the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not take a stand or alleviate the Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) concerns about her well-being, the WTA said Monday. .

The whereabouts of Peng, a former doubles world leader, became an international concern nearly three weeks ago when he claimed he had been sexually assaulted by former Chinese Premier Zhang Gaol.

He performed at dinner with friends on Saturday and at a children’s tennis tournament in Beijing on Sunday, with photos and videos released by Chinese state media reporters and tournament organizers showing. But they have done little to quell their worries.

“It was good to see Peng Shuai in recent videos, but they do not alleviate or remove the WTA’s concern for his well-being and ability to communicate without censorship or coercion,” a WTA spokesman said in an email.

Asked about the call with the IOC, the spokesman said: “This video does not change our demand for a full, fair and open investigation without censorship of his allegation of sexual harassment, which caused our initial concern.”

The IOC said in a statement that Peng had a 30-minute conversation with his chairman, Thomas Bach, on Sunday, during which he said he was safe and well at home in Beijing and wanted his privacy respected for the time being.

Global human rights organizations and others have called for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in February over the human rights situation in China. The WTA has also threatened to pull tournaments out of China because of the issue.

Hu Xijin, editor of the state-owned Global Times, which has published videos and photos of Peng in Beijing in recent days, said on Twitter on Monday that his appearance should be enough to ease the “security of those who really care about Peng Shuain ().”

“But for those seeking to attack the Chinese regime and boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics, the facts, no matter how many, will not help them,” he said.

On November 2, Peng published on Chinese social media that Zhang had forced him into sex and they later had an on-off consensus. The message was deleted about half an hour after it was published.

Neither Zhang nor the Chinese government have commented on Peng’s allegations. The China Government Information Office did not immediately respond to the request for comments sent on Monday.

The United States and Britain have demanded that China provide evidence of Peng’s whereabouts, and the French foreign minister said on Sunday that the Chinese authorities should allow Peng to speak in public.

“I’m just waiting for one thing: that he’s talking,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told LCI television, adding that the diplomatic consequences could be undefined if China doesn’t resolve the situation. His office did not respond immediately to a request for comments on the IOC’s statement.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, when asked at a regular press conference on Monday about the concerns expressed by France, Britain and the United States, said it was not a matter for the Foreign Ministry, but pointed out that Peng had recently been involved in some public activities.

Current and former tennis players, including Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams and Billie Jean King, have also joined in calls to make sure she is safe using the social media hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai?

Novak Djokovic, the world leader in men’s singles, said it would be strange to hold tournaments in China if the “horrible” situation was not resolved.

The topic has been blocked from discussion on China’s heavily censored Internet, and the comment sections of all of Peng’s official Weibo account, as well as old messages from numerous users about him, have been locked.

Some Weibo users have found ways to circumvent the sensors by leaving comments on the accounts of foreign tennis players or sports commentators. While many expressed relief at seeing him reappear over the weekend, others said they were skeptical.

“I hope it hasn’t been staged,” one said.

Report by Brenda Goh; Additional reporting by Gabriel Crossley and Yew Lun Tian in Beijing; Edited by Richard Pullin & Simon Cameron-Moore

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