Two videos and photos: a smiling Peng Shuai appeared on social media on Saturday evening, as international pressure increases on China to obtain information on the fate of the Chinese player.
Peng Shuai, 35, former world number one doubles player and star in her country, has not come forward publicly since accusing Zhang Gaoli, a powerful ex-Communist Party official 40 years her senior, of the ‘having coerced into sexual intercourse.
In that initial message, briefly posted in early November on the player’s official Weibo account before being censored on the Chinese internet, an upset sentimental relationship with married Mr. Zhang was described before he rose to high ground. functions.
In this writing attributed to Peng Shuai, but whose authenticity AFP could not verify, the player explained that Zhang Gaoli had resumed contact with her when he retired in 2018. A “forced” sexual intercourse is evoked.
Since these statements, the fate of Peng Shuai has been the subject of many questions.
“In recent days, she has stayed at home in complete freedom and did not want to be disturbed,” Hu Xijin, influential editor-in-chief, said on Saturday. Global Times, a Chinese daily newspaper with a resolutely nationalist tone.
Peng Shuai “will show up in public soon,” he wrote in English at midday (Beijing time) on Twitter, blocked in China.
Mr. Hu, who claims a certain closeness to power, in the evening posted two videos of the player “having dinner with her coach and friends in a restaurant” in Beijing and filmed the same day, according to him.
AFP was unable to confirm the location or the conditions in which the footage was shot. And Hu Xijin made no reference to it on his Weibo account in Chinese.
Dinner and conviviality
In the images, Peng Shuai is surrounded by two women with whom she shares a meal and wine in a noisy place. A man is seated opposite the player and the conversation is about “matches”.
“Tomorrow is November 20” (Saturday), he said, before being interrupted by one of the guests: It is November 21 (tomorrow Sunday) “.
The exchange, which seems to be staged, is filmed in the evening on a cell phone by an unidentified person. Peng Shuai appears relaxed.
In a statement released on Saturday, WTA President Steve Simon found it “positive” to see the athlete, but “video alone is not enough” to show that she is “free in her decisions and actions. “, He said, still” concerned about the health and safety of Peng Shuai “.
Several countries, including the United States and France, have said they are “concerned” about the fate of the Chinese player.
And on Friday, the UN asked for proof that she is doing well, as the hashtag #WhereisPengShuai (# WhereestPengShuai) spread like wildfire on social media.
Four allegedly recent snapshots of the tennis champion were subsequently published by the Twitter account @shen_shiwei, labeled “media affiliated with the Chinese state” by the social network.
AFP was unable to independently establish when these photos were taken and requests for an explanation from the author of the account went unanswered.
One of the photos shows the player smiling with a cat in her arms in what appears to be her home. In the background, soft toys, a trophy, a Chinese flag and accreditations are visible.
Another photo shows a selfie of Peng Shuai with a Kung Fu panda figure, an animated film for children. In the background appears a frame with a picture of Winnie the Pooh.
The Twitter account in question says in English that these photos were posted privately by the player on a social network to wish “good weekend” to her contacts.
Perplexity
Twitter is blocked in China and only people with VPN-like bypass software can access it.
In recent years, however, many Chinese diplomats and official media have created accounts there to defend, sometimes doggedly, China’s point of view.
Already Wednesday, the Chinese public television CGTN had sown the disorder, by revealing a screenshot of an email attributed to Peng Shuai.
The channel aimed at a foreign audience said that the Chinese player had personally sent it to the management of the WTA, which manages the professional women’s tennis circuit.
On CNN, his boss Steve Simon expressed Thursday his perplexity vis-à-vis the message in which the champion declares “false” his accusations against Zhang Gaoli.
“I don’t believe that’s the truth at all,” Simon said, calling the email “staged”.
The Peng Shuai case is censored in China and the player’s entourage declined to comment.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli, who was one of China’s seven most powerful politicians from 2013 to 2018, has never publicly reacted to the accusations.