For many years, foreign companies that want to harvest wealth from the Chinese market have followed a tradition: Don’t engage in politics.
Arousing the anger of the Chinese Communist Party will damage your own profits.
From the National Basketball Association (NBA) to Arsenal Football Club, offending the Chinese government will pay a heavy price.
But there is a sports organization that is stepping forward to confront this rising superpower and refuse to back down.
Steve Simon, the head of the International Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), is desperate to defend a star player.
It is unclear whether the Beijing authorities know what to do next.
It’s not uncommon for celebrities to suddenly disappear in China
Last month, tennis player Peng Shuai has surpassed the scope of sports in China, as if he is a mature star.
But then she posted an allegation of serious sexual assault against a senior CCP figure on the social media site Weibo.
When talking about the violence against her by Zhang Gaoli, a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee, she said: “Even if I hit a stone like an egg or I kill myself like a moth to a fire, I will tell the truth about you.”
Zhang Gaoli did not respond to her allegations.
Her postFrom China’s censored internet within 20 minutesDeleted, and then Peng Shuai immediately disappeared.
She is not the first Chinese star to disappear suddenly after offending the government.
In 2018, China’s highest-paid female star Fan Bingbing disappeared for a few months after being accused of tax evasion.
The ubiquitous technology tycoon Jack Ma has rarely appeared in public since criticizing Chinese regulators.
John Delury, a professor of Chinese studies at Yonsei University in South Korea, said that Peng Shuai’s situation should be seen as the latest example of a series of relentless blows in which no one is invulnerable.
He said: “This shows an increasingly depressing atmosphere.”
One thing beneficial to Peng Shuai, and one thing that surprised the Chinese government, is that someone jumped up and acted.
“Prove that Peng Shuai is free”
When Peng Shuai disappeared in a public event and could not be reached, WTA issued an alarm.
Beijing tried to downplay Peng Shuai’s disappearance and released an email purportedly written by Peng Shuai to Steve Simon, in which she retracted her allegations of sexual assault and insisted that she was “resting at home”. ,everything is fine”.
Simon was not persuaded and threatened that unless China could “verifiably prove that Peng Shuai was free and could speak without interference or intimidation”, it would cancel the operations of the International Women’s Tennis Association in China.
Later, the Chinese state media released a video of Peng Shuai having a meal with his friends and coach, but Simon felt something was wrong.
Last week, he suspended all tennis tournaments held in China, including Hong Kong.
This is a bold move by the association.
Currently, China hosts 11 International Women’s Tennis Association tournaments every year. Shenzhen was originally to host the WTA year-end finals from 2022 to 2030.
Why did the WTA do what the NBA can’t do?
The WTA is by no means the first sports organization to have a dispute with the Chinese government, but it may be the first organization willing to truly take a costly stance.
Since the Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey expressed support for Hong Kong’s democracy protesters on Twitter in 2019, the NBA has had a series of disputes with China. Morey later deleted the tweet.
The National Basketball Association issued a humble apology, and its legendary player LeBron James criticized Morey for “either being uninformed or not really understanding the situation.”
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Although the National Basketball Association retreats, China is not satisfied.
China Central Television banned NBA games, which is estimated to cost the league about 400 million U.S. dollars (about 557.8 million Australian dollars).
Jiang Yun, a senior researcher at the Australian National University, said that the International Women’s Tennis Association may have no choice but to stand up and face China.
“China has not arrested or disappeared players from the National Basketball Association,” she said.
“It is NBA players criticizing China. But they are not Chinese, so they are not under China’s jurisdiction anywhere.”
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The International Women’s Tennis Association, founded by Billie Jean King, is structured to allow female players to have more say. The current structure of the association still reflects this.
On the eight-person board, three seats are held by players.
Is this a turning point?
Although China tried to censor Peng Shuai’s allegations, it still attracted attention at home and abroad.
“Despite the censorship system, everyone is still talking about this issue. Some people are very good at avoiding the censorship system,” said Jiang Yun.
“In China, there are still many people who support her.”
Some people are concerned because of Peng Shuai’s celebrity effect, and partly because of the timing of her accusations.
Only three months before the Beijing Winter Olympics, the United States, Australia, and Lithuania all announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics on the grounds of human rights violations.
When asked about the International Women’s Tennis Association’s suspension of competitions in China and the multinational diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics, China has repeatedly claimed that it “opposes the politicization of sports.”
“I think China cares,” Jiang Yun said.
“It cares about its international reputation.”
However, the current pressure is unlikely to change the outcome for a woman who has filed a serious sexual assault allegation.
“This is[WTA]A positive message, especially for its players,” said Jiang Yun.
“I don’t think the Chinese government or the Chinese Communist Party will suddenly back down.
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