Dhe Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai denied to a Singaporean newspaper that she had accused a senior Chinese official of sexual assault. “I have never claimed or written that anyone sexually abused me. This is very important and needs to be made clear, ”she said in a video that the Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao posted on the Internet on Monday.
There are apparently many “misunderstandings” related to an Internet post that she published on November 2nd. In it she wrote that the former Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli forced her to have sex three years ago. At the same time, Peng accused the politician in the post of having dropped her after a mutual affair ten years ago when he was appointed to the Standing Committee of the Politburo.
Arranged conversation?
Speaking to the Singapore newspaper, Peng Shuai did not say that the statements in the post were false. She simply referred to the text as her “personal matter”.
The video circulated on Monday did not ask questions about the content of the Internet post, the circumstances of the alleged sexual assault, or Zhang Gaoli. Critics reinforced the suspicion that the conversation had been arranged by an official body. According to many observers, it seemed unlikely that a Singaporean journalist would be the only one to have spontaneous access to Peng Shuai, the newspaper claimed.
Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth wrote on Twitter that the video “only increased fears about the pressure the Chinese government is exerting on (Peng).”
The international women’s tennis organization WTA was told by the AFP news agency that it was still “very concerned about the well-being” of the 35-year-old athlete. “We continue to demand a comprehensive, fair and transparent investigation of your allegations of sexual assault – without censorship,” said the WTA. The organization announced in early December that it would withdraw all tournaments from the country in protest against China’s handling of the Peng Shuai case.
Tennis star Peng Shuai now apparently denies the allegation.
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Image: dpa
According to “Lianhe Zaobao”, the video that was distributed on Monday was recorded on the sidelines of the “China City Tour” ski competition held in Shanghai by the International Ski Federation in the run-up to the Beijing Winter Games. In it, Peng can also be seen in conversation with former basketball player Yao Ming. The skepticism about the creation of the video contributed to the fact that the first recordings of Peng and Yao Ming were distributed on Twitter on Sunday by an employee of the party newspaper “Global Times”, Qingqing Chen. Chen wrote that she got the recordings from a “friend”.
The Global Times had previously circulated videos of Peng in Beijing under similar circumstances. An English-language email that Peng is said to have sent to WTA boss Steve Simon was also made public in this way. Peng now told “Lianhe Zaobao” that she had written a Chinese-language version of the email. She did not say who translated the letter. When asked, the former professional player emphasized that she could move around freely and live with her family in Beijing. Critics fear that the security apparatus is limiting their freedom of expression and movement.
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