The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced this Thursday (2) that members of the organization held another video call with tennis player Peng Shuai, who denounced sexual abuse by Zhang Gaoli, Chinese deputy prime minister between 2012 and 2017. lack of information about the whereabouts of the Chinese athlete led to an international campaign to demand details about her situation.
According to the IOC, the second video call took place on Wednesday (1), and a committee team would have promised “broad support”, to maintain regular contact with Peng Shuai and to hold a face-to-face meeting in January.
“We are using a ‘silent diplomacy’ which, given the circumstances and based on the experience of governments and other organizations, is identified as the most promising way to proceed effectively on humanitarian issues,” the IOC said in a statement.
“The IOC’s efforts led to a half-hour videoconference with Peng Shuai on November 21, during which she explained her situation and appeared to be safe and well given the difficult situation she finds herself in. This was confirmed in yesterday’s call. Our human and person-centered approach means that we continue to care about and support your personal situation,” the committee added.
At the time of the first call, made by the president of the IOC, Thomas Bach, athletes and sports directors questioned that the contact did not ensure that the tennis player was safe and the top hat was accused of “publicity stunt”. Earlier, to show that the tennis player would be okay, Chinese state media released an alleged letter from Peng to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and images of her that would be recent, but the tennis confederation suspected the coercion.
On Wednesday, the WTA announced that it has decided to suspend tournaments it holds in China due to uncertainty about Peng Shuai’s whereabouts.
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