C.Hina’s government is looking to put an end to the controversy surrounding tennis star Peng Shuai, who has been missing for a long time. “Some people should end their malicious allegations and not politicize this matter,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in response to questions from the press in Beijing on Tuesday.
He pointed out that the 35-year-old did some activities in public. The spokesman also mentioned the video call with the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach. “We hope that the sites in question will stop fraudulently exaggerating the matter.”
In early November, Peng Shuai published allegations of sexual assault by a top Chinese politician on the Weibo social network. The censors intervened immediately, deleted their mail and since then has prevented any discussion on China’s Internet. The player was also initially not seen in public, which worried the international tennis world.
The IOC announced on Sunday that Bach had made a video call with the tennis player. She said she was safe. It remained open whether her #MeToo allegations or possible pressure from Chinese authorities on the 35-year-old were addressed. According to the IOC, she said she was living well in her Beijing home and that her privacy should be respected.
Criticism of the IOC video switch
The video switch triggered criticism that the IOC had acted as a willing aid to the Chinese system. The Global Athlete sports association accused the IOC of “complicity in the vicious propaganda of the Chinese authorities and their lack of interest in basic human rights and justice”. The affair about the world-class doubles player brings the IOC just under two and a half months before the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing (February 4th to 20th) in dire straits. China is already under fire for violations of human rights.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is coming to Beijing for the Winter Games in February. China’s spokesman Zhao Lijian confirmed on Tuesday that China’s state and party leader Xi Jinping had invited his “good friend”. Putin accepted the invitation. Both sides are in close communication about the details of the visit, which once again demonstrates the “partnership between China and Russia”. “We hope and are convinced that athletes from both countries will set new records,” said the Foreign Office spokesman.
Due to sanctions as a reaction to state-organized doping, Russian athletes cannot officially compete for their country at the Winter Games, but only for the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). Unlike Putin, however, US President Joe Biden is considering a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Games. This means that government officials would not be attending, while US athletes would not be affected. There is tension between the two countries.
Because of the unusually strict requirements for the prevention of the corona pandemic, it is unclear from which countries and how many official guests are arriving at all. China has a strict zero-covid policy. All Olympic participants are only allowed to move in “closed circuits”. Unlike the Summer Games in Tokyo, these “bubbles” are hermetically sealed. Nobody is allowed to move out of control or outside.
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