Chinese tennis champion Peng Shuai accused a former top Communist leader of coercing her into sex before making her his mistress, a charge that was censored online Thursday.
On the Weibo social network, Peng Shuai, doubles champion at Roland Garros in 2014, claimed on Tuesday to have had forced sex with former Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli, at the latter’s home in Tianjin (north). three years ago.
This testimony was quickly erased by Chinese censorship, as were the reactions on the subject, which spread like wildfire.
As of Thursday, searches for both Peng Shuai and Zhang Gaoli were still blocked on Weibo and the Baidu search engine.
China has seen a very sanitized version of the MeToo movement since 2018, with accusations of sexual harassment targeting stars of the song or the small screen, but never so far politicians.
Close to the Prime Minister
Zhang Gaoli, around 75, was until early 2018 a permanent member of the Chinese Communist Party’s political bureau and as such one of the seven most powerful men in China. He is considered close to Premier Li Keqiang.
In his message, 35-year-old Peng Shuai said that Mr. Zhang forced him to have sex in his bedroom after playing tennis, seven years after he had already slept with him.
From the United States, Chinese feminist activist Lu Pin felt that the tenniswoman’s accusations had all the exterior of a MeToo affair.
“Peng Shuai is an extraordinary Chinese woman who fought on her own to achieve world-class results and yet she had to deal with this sort of thing, which is really distressing.“, commented Lu Pin for AFP.
Former world number one in doubles, Peng Shuai is currently ranked 189th in the WTA rankings.
