four questions about the disappearance of tennis player Peng Shuai who accuses ex-executive of rape

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Where is Peng Shuai? This question has stirred the tennis community and international opinion since the 35-year-old Chinese tennis player disappeared. She has not given any news since her revelations of sexual violence of which she was the victim, Tuesday, November 2. That day, she accused on Weibo lformer Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, who was one of China’s most powerful politicians from 2013 to 2018, for forcing her to have sex with him. Franceinfo returns to this case while the player has not given any sign of life for a little less than three weeks.

Who is Peng Shuai?

The 35-year-old is currently ranked 192nd in the WTA. She climbed to 14th place in the WTA rankings in August 2011 and even topped the doubles rankings in February 2014. That year, she won the Roland Garros doubles tournament. In 2018, she received a six-month suspension and a suspended $ 10,000 fine for trying to buy her doubles teammate at the Wimbledon tournament. She had offered her partner money in exchange for a forfeit in the London doubles tournament that summer. His French trainer at the time, Bertrand Perret, had also been sanctioned for three months.

What happened with Zhang Gaoli?

A long story was posted on Weibo (the Chinese equivalent of Twitter) on November 4. He only stayed about twenty minutes online, precise The world. In it, Peng Shuai recounts a relationship she had with Zhang Gaoli, just prior to her assumption of the post of Deputy Prime Minister and the Standing Committee of the CPC Political Bureau. Now 75 years old, Zhang Gaoli was part of this office from 2013 to 2018. He was, as such, one of the seven most powerful men in the country.

The player mentions in particular a sexual intercourse in his room three years ago, after a game of tennis, seven years after having already slept with the leader. “I was very scared. That afternoon I refused at first. I kept crying.”, she writes. “In the grip of fear and confusion (…) I gave in and we had sex”. She adds that Zhang Gaoli’s wife was aware of and “stood guard outside”. Peng Shuai specifies that she then became the mistress of the ex-leader, until an argument last week. She adds that she has no evidence to support her claims. “You were always afraid that I would hide a tape recorder”she wrote, addressing Mr. Zhang. “You will certainly deny it or else, you will go so far as to attack me”.

Is censorship and the disappearance of personalities common in China?

On the day of the revelation, the word “tennis” (wangqiu) had been banned by Weibo. The player’s official account was still active, but searches with her name did not return any results on the platform. Almost normal censorship in China, according to Nicholas Bequelin, Visiting Fellow at the China Center at the American University of Yale (Connecticut) and former head of Amnesty International in Asia. “It was obvious she would be silenced. Peng Shuai’s revelations were explosive.All people potentially dangerous to the Party are targeted. Dissidents, lawyers, journalists, human rights and women’s rights activists are routinely arrested and detained for varying periods of time. There is no authority to control the length of detention. “

From the United States, Chinese feminist activist Lu Pin felt that the tenniswoman’s accusations had all the exterior of a MeToo affair. “Peng Shuai is an extraordinary Chinese woman who fought on her own to achieve world-class results, she commented, and yet she had to deal with this stuff, which is really distressing. ” This case intervenes days away from an important Chinese Communist Party (CCP) conclave in Beijing with the country’s top leaders and that China has known since 2018 a very sanitized version of the MeToo movement. Charges of sexual harassment have targeted stars of the song or the small screen, but never so far politician.

What are the reactions?

According to Weibo data, a post on Tuesday, November 9 on the player’s official account has been viewed more than 100,000 times, but the content is not specified. We therefore do not know if this is the testimony of the player. Since crevelations and the disappearance of the player, “#whereispengshuai “(where is Peng Shuai?) appeared on Twitter.

Many personalities have challenged the WTA and the Chinese Embassy before the stars of world tennis take over, such as Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams or Novak Djokovic. This Saturday, November 20, it is the daily L’Équipe which dedicates its front page to the player.

But the reactions did not stop in the world of sport. In the United States, Joe Biden threatened Beijing to boycott the Winter Olympics next February. In France, it is Roxana Maracineanu, the Minister for Sport who spoke on the subject, arguing that the “Transparency is absolutely necessary on sexual assault charges like the Peng Shuai situation.“Proof of the global impact that this issue has taken, the UN has also cracked a statement.”It would be important to have proof of where she is and whether she is okay. And we urge a transparent investigation into his allegations of sexual assault.“, said a spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Liz Throssell, during a press briefing in Geneva.


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