Chinese tennis star denies making sexual assault allegations

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Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai said she had never accused anyone of sexually assaulting her and that a social media post she posted early last month was misunderstood.

Peng’s well-being became a matter of concern among the global tennis community and advocacy groups when she appeared to claim that a former Chinese vice premier, Zhang Gaoli, assaulted her. sexually in the past.

In early November, Peng alleged that she had had an extramarital “relationship” with Zhang for several years, which he wanted to keep hidden.

She allegedly claimed that he had invited her to dinner or to play tennis, in the presence of his wife. He then allegedly pressured her to have sex and the assault then took place.

“I never consented that afternoon, crying all the time,” she wrote on Weibo.

“You brought me to our home and forced me to have relationships.

“There is no audio recording, no video recording, just my distorted but very real experience.”

After this message, she was absent from the public for almost three weeks.

Photo: AFP

She has now retracted that statement.

“First of all, I must stress an extremely important point, I never said or wrote that anyone sexually assaulted me,” Ms. Peng said in the video posted by Lianhe Zaobao, a Singaporean media.

“I must clearly stress this point.”

Lianhe Zaobao is the only overseas Chinese-language newspaper widely available on the mainland.

Peng’s remarks marked the first time she had approached the case on camera in public.

She spoke on the sidelines of a cross-country ski event in Shanghai.

She said her post on the quickly deleted social media site Weibo was a “private matter.”

Peng, 35, said in the video that “people have a lot of misunderstandings” about his post on Weibo.

She has not developed.

Peng also said that she lived at her home in Beijing without supervision. She didn’t mention Zhang.

Earlier this month, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which sought a direct line of communication with Peng, announced that it would immediately suspend tournaments in China due to concerns over Ms. Peng’s treatment and the safety of others. players.

China did not directly comment on Peng’s initial post, but said after the WTA’s decision to suspend tournaments in China that it “opposes the politicization of sport.”

Zhang did not comment on the matter.

Discussion of the scandal, which erupted as Beijing prepares to host the Winter Olympics in February, has been heavily censored in China.

Peng Shuai described that there had been “misunderstandings” surrounding his initial social media post. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Peng said in the video that she personally wrote a letter last month to WTA director Steve Simon in which she denied the assault allegation, and that a media translation into English of Chinese state was correct.

Mr. Simon said at the time that he “found it hard to believe” that Peng actually wrote the email or believed what was attributed to him.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) organized two video calls with Ms. Peng.

At the Shanghai Peng appeared on a fifth-floor observation balcony with athletes from various sports, including former NBA basketball star Yao Ming, and watched for about 20 minutes, according to Lianhe Zaobao’s report. .

She was wearing a black jacket with a Chinese flag and a red T-shirt with the characters from China.

Reuters

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