The head of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has said he is now even more concerned for the welfare of Peng Shuai after Chinese state media published a letter purportedly from the Chinese player. Peng, a former world doubles No 1, has not been heard from publicly since she alleged on social media that a former vice-premier of China, Zhang Gaoli, had sexually assaulted her. The 2 November post on China’s Twitter-like Weibo was removed within half an hour and censors blocked numerous related terms including “tennis”, but the claims…
Tag: Tennis
Women’s Tennis Challenges China’s Narrative Over Missing Player
The top official overseeing women’s tennis on Wednesday directly challenged the narrative presented by Chinese state media that a highly ranked professional player had walked back allegations of sexual assault against a top Communist Party official, saying he feared for her well-being. China Global Television Network, an English-language broadcaster controlled by the Chinese government, on Wednesday distributed an email that it said had been written by Peng Shuai, the highly ranked player. Ms. Peng has not been seen in public since Nov. 2, when she posted the accusation on social…
China’s Peng Shuai Makes #MeToo Claim Against Zhang Gaoli
An economist by education, Mr. Zhang, now 75, rose through the ranks of the party and government. He served as governor of Shandong, the coastal province, and then as party secretary in Tianjin, the provincial-level port city on the Bohai Sea. As vice premier from 2013 to 2018, he was one of seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee, headed then, as now, by China’s leader, Xi Jinping. “I know that for someone of your eminence, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, you’ve said that you’re not afraid,” Ms. Peng wrote in…
Tennis star accuses Chinese ruling party official of #MeToo abuse
The Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai has apparently accused a former vice-premier of sexual assault, engulfing the highest echelons of Beijing’s ruling Communist party in a #MeToo scandal for the first time. Authorities scrambled to stop the allegations from spreading, with online censors even appearing to block the word “tennis”. In a now-deleted post on one of her social media accounts, Peng, 35, said she and Zhang Gaoli, 75, had an on-off extramarital “relationship” over several years, which she said he tried to keep secret. Peng said Zhang had stopped…