Double punishment for victims of sexual violence in China. If victims most often give up accusing their attackers, it is simply out of fear of reprisals from the authorities and the government. The tennis champion Peng shuai is living proof. After daring to denounce former Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli, whom she accuses of rape, she is missing. According to Le Monde, the player has not given any sign of life for more than a week.
It is not known where she is now, and her poignant post was quickly censored in China. With the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai, the tennis community is worried about its plight on social networks.
“Yes, these accusations are very disturbing. I’ve known Peng since she was 14, we should all be worried, it’s serious, where is she? Is she safe? Any information would be appreciated“, wrote on Sunday the former American champion Chris Evert on his Twitter account.
Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet also relayed the message #WhereIsPengShuai on her account on Saturday, adding “let’s not be silent“, while Briton Liam Broady, using the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai as well, wrote on Sunday:”I can’t believe this stuff is happening in the 21st century“.
In early November, Peng Shuai accused a former top Communist leader on social media of having him coerced into having sex, before making her his mistress.
The explosive accusation was briefly posted on the official Weibo account of the 35-year-old Chinese player, who won the Roland-Garros tournament in doubles in 2014. In a long text, Peng Shuai claims to have had three years, forced sex with former vice premier Zhang Gaoli, who was one of China’s most powerful politicians from 2013 to 2018.
But censorship is unfortunately commonplace in China, the message quickly disappeared from the Chinese internet. In the process, searches involving both the names of Peng Shuai and Zhang Gaoli were still blocked on Weibo and on the search engine Baidu. The player’s official account was still active, but searches with her name gave no results on the platform.
AFP specifies that China has known since 2018 a very sanitized version of the MeToo movement, with accusations of sexual harassment targeting stars of the song or the small screen, but never so far of politician. Zhang Gaoli, around 75, was until early 2018 a permanent member of the CPC Political Bureau and as such one of the seven most powerful men in China. He is considered close to Premier Li Keqiang.
In his message, Peng Shuai said that Mr. Zhang forced him to have sex in his bedroom after playing tennis, seven years after he had already slept with him. “I was very scared. That afternoon, I initially refused. I kept crying“she writes.”In fear and in turmoil (…) I gave in and we had sex“. She adds that Mr. Zhang’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 recordershe wrote, addressing Mr. Zhang.You will certainly deny it or else you will go so far as to attack me“.
Former world number one in doubles, Peng Shuai is currently ranked 189th by the WTA. A true champion in both singles and doubles, she won Roland-Garros in doubles in 2014 and Wimbledon in doubles in 2013. In singles, she reached 14th place in the WTA rankings and won 4 tournaments, from 2014 to 1018. In 2014, she reached the semifinals of the US Open and lost to Caroline Wozniacki.