Peng Shuai speaks for the first time but worries even more – Liberation

The Chinese tennis player again claimed that she had not been sexually assaulted. Enough to cast doubt on the sincerity of her approach and the pressures that weigh on her.

This reversal does not seem to be a good sign. For his first public speaking since the start of the case in November, Peng Shuai denied any sexual assault. “First, I want to emphasize a very important point: I never said or wrote that someone sexually assaulted me,” the Chinese tennis player told the Singaporean newspaper Lianhe Zaobaoa daily newspaper in Chinese language but inaccessible in China, on the sidelines of a sporting event in Shanghai this Sunday.

There have been “a lot of misunderstandings” on a case “private order”, added the champion, dressed in a red T-shirt and a black jacket, during an interview filmed on a mobile phone. A Chinese journalist from the nationalist daily Global Times previously posted a new video of the player on Twitter. The seven-second footage showed the former doubles world No. 1 chatting with former star basketball player Yao Ming.

WTA concern

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the body which manages the women’s tennis circuit in the world, reaffirmed on Monday its “worry” regarding the fate of Peng Shuai. “These (public) appearances do not allay the WTA’s concerns about its well-being and ability to communicate without censorship or coercion.” the organization said in a statement.

In early December, the WTA canceled all of its tournaments in China and called for a transparent investigation into the player’s accusations. The authority then explained taking this initiative because, according to its president Steve Simon, of “serious doubts” persistent in the player’s freedom of movement.

Peng Shuai assured the Lianhe Zaobao newspaper on Sunday that she was free.

At the beginning of November, in a message published on the Chinese social network Weibo, which had quickly disappeared, Peng Shuai had described a sincere but upset sentimental relationship with the former Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli. The player mentioned in particular a sexual relationship “strength” with Zhang, married and forty years his senior, before and after he held high office at the top of the Communist regime. Zhang Gaoli was one of the seven most powerful politicians in China from 2013 to 2018.

The message was quickly erased by Chinese censorship and the former world number 1 in doubles did not appear in public for several weeks, arousing the concern of the sports world, the UN and several countries including the United States and France.

As international pressure mounted on China, Chinese journalists tried to reassure by publishing images of Peng Shuai. A copy of an email attributed to the player in which was written “everything is fine” had also been made public. But the authenticity of the documents had left the WTA skeptical. And in early December, the organization canceled all of its tournaments in China, calling for a transparent investigation into Peng Shuai’s alleged rape charges.

From the beginning, the affair was totally ignored in the Chinese media. And censors are stepping up their efforts to erase any hint of the scandal on social media.

The majority of Chinese are therefore not aware of the scandal and the various twists and turns of the affair, especially since most foreign media websites are blocked in China. But the information still circulates via private messaging and word of mouth.