“The extremely clumsy handling of this affair by China does not at all reassure abroad but on the contrary worries“, estimates Antoine Bondaz, researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) and specialist in China, Friday, November 19 on franceinfo. The concern around the disappearance of the tennis player Peng Shuai is growing, causing players to react, States but also the United Nations. Professional tenniswoman Peng Shuai has not given any sign of life since the beginning of November. The Chinese player revealed a few days ago on Chinese social networks that she had been the victim of a rape from former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. On Friday, three photos of her were relayed by a journalist affiliated with the Chinese government, who said the 35-year-old sportswoman had just posted them on WeChat [équivalent chinois de Whatsapp], without these photos being authenticated.
franceinfo: Peng Shuai’s post accusing Zhang Gaoli disappeared just half an hour after it was published. What does that say about China’s handling of this affair?
Antoine Bondaz: Yes, the post has been censored, as have all comments on this post and any reference, even today, to Peng Shuai. In reality, this is a fairly classic strategy in China. On the one hand, to censor the Chinese internet, which is controlled by political authorities, and on the other, to try to stifle business abroad. However, as we have seen, the extremely clumsy management of this affair does not reassure at all abroad but, conversely, worries. It is extremely counterproductive. And the mobilization is unprecedented so the scale of this affair is too.
The publication of the photos of Peng Shuai, which were allegedly sent to a friend on We Chat, a Chinese cat, is not really reassuring either.
Yes, we have a series of three photos that were announced by a reporter from a Chinese state media in which Peng Shuai takes a picture of himself in front of soft toys and with a cat. She sent them to the social network We Chat, the Chinese equivalent of WhatsApp. But here, the photos are not dated. There is nothing to show that she is doing well, or in any case that these photos are recent. And so, again, there is a concern. And until there is a free, open and official word from Peng Chuei, I think the concern will continue.
All these positions around the disappearance of this tennis player, can that make a difference?
It is extremely complicated to say that. The Chinese regime is paranoid and anything that would be interpreted as being instrumentalized abroad in order to weaken the legitimacy of the party or weaken the regime, would be perceived extremely negatively.
“We must at all costs avoid politicizing this affair and simply ask for news of Peng Shuai, to know where it is and that it can express itself in an extremely free way, as all the governments have done in abroad, but also professional athletes. “
Antoine Bondaz, China specialistto franceinfo
There is something to be worried about when you know that in China, many people have disappeared, people who had criticized the Chinese regime. We think of the billionaire of online commerce, the founder of Alibaba Jack Ma, or the artist Ai Wei Wei.
Indeed, what is called either enforced disappearances or house arrest frequently happen in China. But I think the most important point in this case is not just the charge of sexual assault, it is indeed the target of the charge. Zhang Gaoli was not only the Deputy Prime Minister of the People’s Republic, he was above all one of the members of the select committee of the political bureau of the Communist Party of China, that is to say the elite of the elite. Seven Chinese leaders are at the head of the party, yet accusations of sexual assault aimed at such a level within the party are unprecedented and make the case extremely sensitive, extremely embarrassing from Beijing’s point of view. Since 2012, Xi Jinping has highlighted the virtuous, perfectly moral and irreproachable character of the elite within the party. If this case were true, it would call this strategy into question.