The scandal over Peng Shuai‘s complaint against former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, whom she accused of sexually assaulting her, continues to generate controversy after the tennis player’s appearance in public on the occasion of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
The latest episode on the Peng Shuai case took place this weekend and features Victor Gao, a senior Chinese government official, who made controversial statements about the tennis player’s complaint on the 60 Minutes program from Australian television.
Gao said that Peng Shuai is more capable than other women in China to deal with certain situations. “Peng Shuai is a very successful sportswoman and physically she can handle many things better than other women in China. Because of her mental maturity and physical condition she can take care of herself and you can defend yourself against any man or woman in China.”
However, Gao’s most controversial phrase comes at the moment when he is asked if Peng Shuai could have suffered this sexual assault. “Physically she is very strong and tall. So for a person my size, trying to abuse Peng Shuai is impossible, you are listening to the fantasy that the media has adopted.
Gao also defends that the incident that Peng Shuai denounced happened years ago and that in that period the tennis player did not report any type of abuse. “The incident that has appeared on the Internet did not happen a week or a year ago, it was several years ago. During this period Peng Shuai was a free personthere were no signs that she was harassed.”
