Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, who went missing weeks ago after accusing the former deputy prime minister of sexual abuse, has surfaced in videos from Chinese state media. One of the recordings is said to have been made during a tennis tournament for children in Beijing on Sunday. Two other videos would show Peng with her coach and friends on Saturday night dined in a restaurant in the capital.
The international association for female tennis players WTA, which previously threatened to stop organizing tournaments in China in response to the Peng case, is not yet convinced by the images. A spokesman for the union told Reuters news agency that the videos provide “insufficient” evidence that the tennis star is indeed safe.
Also read: #MeToo accusation against high-ranking party member of China
The images were shared by, among others, Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of the Chinese newspaper Global Times and thus a prominent figure in the Chinese state media. Hu said on Saturday that Peng was staying “free” at home and would be performing in public again “soon”. With the videos, he writes that the images “make it clear” that they were made this weekend.
Gone
Peng, 35, made public appearances on Chinese social media outlet Weibo on Nov. 2, alleging sexual assaults against former Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Ghaoli. She is said to have voluntarily, but later also forcibly, had sex with Ghaoli, forty years her senior, one of the nine most powerful men in China at the time. The post was censored, but went viral in the 20 minutes it was online.
Peng has not been heard from since the #MeToo allegations. Earlier this week, the English-language Chinese state medium CGTN published an email stating that she was “just at home” and “fine”. Peng also wrote that her previous allegations of sexual violence against Ghaoli were incorrect. “I’m not missing, and I’m not unsafe,” the email read. Tennis association WTA had serious doubts about the authenticity and origin of that e-mail.
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