By Grace Hwang
Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai finally made a public appearance over the weekend after vanishing from sight for nearly three weeks. After a social media post accusing former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault on November 2, which has since been deleted, her disappearance from the public eye sparked concerns over her safety worldwide. The United Nations placed mounting pressure on China, demanding for Peng’s whereabouts and calling for an investigation into her allegations. In an interview with CNN, the head of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Steve Simon, announced his consideration of pulling out of China, saying, “We’re definitely willing to pull our business and deal with all the complications that come with it.”
However, those initial concerns have not yet seemed to subside with her reappearance. A steady stream of photos and videos of the former doubles world No. 1 have surfaced online, but all have been uploaded by individuals who work for Chinese government-controlled media and the state sport system. Many have yet to be convinced, including the WTA, as “they don’t alleviate or address the WTA’s concern about her well-being and ability to communicate without censorship or coercion.”
Human rights advocates are another group of those who are still wary of Peng’s situation, especially those who have been following Beijing’s silencing campaigns for years. Maya Wang, senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch, said, “What we have here is essentially a state-controlled narrative: only the government and its affiliated media are generating and distributing the content about Peng’s story.” None of the footage that has been released has mentioned anything about her sexual assault allegations but has instead focused on her apparent high spirits, increasing skepticism of her actual well-being, as many activists are aware of how China has managed to coerce and silence those in the past.
Peng has not yet appeared on Chinese state television to make a statement, but she has appeared in a 30-minute video call with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials. Under the close supervision of a Chinese sports official, she did confirm her safety. However, the IOC’s quick conclusion over Peng’s current state without mentioning her allegations at all have raised concerns over their credibility as well, leaving many wondering why the IOC seems to be giving in to China’s narrative.
