The WTA says it is still “concerned about Peng’s well-being and his ability to communicate without censorship or coercion”.
China’s tennis star Peng Shuai has denied allegations that the leader of the Chinese Communist Party had committed sexual violence while claiming to live freely. Peng gave his first interview after his accusations raised concerns about his well-being.
However, Peng’s latest comments did not allay the concerns of the professional tour WTA. The WTA said Monday that they are still “concerned about Peng’s well-being and his ability to communicate without censorship or coercion”.
Last month, China’s messaging service in Weibo Peng had accused the party’s former deputy prime minister Zhang Gaolita forcing them into sex during their relationship several years ago.
In an interview with the Chinese-language Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao, Peng denied previous allegations.
“I want to emphasize an important point: I’ve never said or written anything about anyone having sexually abused me,” the 35-year-old tennis player said in a video filmed on the phone.
“I want to make that clear.”
Pengin the message from Weibo quickly disappeared, but it took time to take screenshots that were posted on Twitter. After that, the former four-time champion of the Wimbledon and French Open tennis tournament disappeared from publicity for three weeks. During the disappearance, Peng’s well-being was addressed by the WTA, the UN, the White House and other tennis players, among others.
In the interview video, Peng did not dispute the message he sent to Weibo but described it as “a private matter that people have a lot of misunderstandings about”. He did not explain in more detail what he meant.
In the original message, Peng clearly accused Zhang of forcing him into sex and wrote that he was “scared” and “cried”. The message was removed from Weibo in half an hour.
The video asked him if he could move freely and if he had been under surveillance since his message.
Peng replied that he was “very free”.
WTA said it is still not convinced of Peng’s well-being.
“We continue to demand a full, fair and open investigation, without censorship, of his allegations of sexual violence,” the organization said in a statement sent to the news agency AFP.
The WTA has canceled all tournaments in China.
Chinese state media have published screenshots of an email Peng wrote to the WTA in which he says “everything is fine”.
Director of the WTA Steve Simon has said he has a hard time believing Peng’s email.
In a recent interview, Peng told Zaobao that the email was genuine and written of his own free will. In the video interview, Peng was wearing a red t-shirt and a dark quilted jacket, both of which read “China”.
All discussions related to Peng have been quickly removed from China’s closely monitored network, and the State Department has said the case has been “hostile” to the public.
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