Summary
- Chinese female tennis player accuses Vice-Premier of China of rape
- Peng Shuai goes missing after social media post
- Tennis community calls for more information on her whereabouts
The global tennis community and millions of users on social media are voicing their concern for top Chinese female tennis pro Peng Shuai who has gone missing for the last 10 days.
The concerns exist as Peng Shuai accused the former vice-premier of China Zhang Gaoli of coercing her into sex and raping her.
The 35 year old Peng Shuai made a lengthy post on Nov 02 on the popular Weibo social media site in China where she accused the former vice premier of using his position to force her to have sex and carry out a short affair.
The post was quickly removed by China’s social media police but not before it could go vial. The social media police in China went on to block keywords related to ‘tennis’ and ‘Peng Shuai’ soon after. Peng Shuai went missing shortly thereafter and no one has heard from her publically during the last 10 days which has sparked international concern.
Tennis Channel
Peng Shuai is one of the most popular female tennis players in China and has an impressive record which includes winning the Grand Slam doubles during Wimbledon 2013 and the 2014 French Open. In total, she has 23 tour level doubles titles and continues to have strong ties with the international tennis community.
Zhang Gaoli retired from his government role in 2018 and has not been very active in the public since then.
While China has downplayed the disappearance of Peng Shuai, the international tennis community has put pressure for more to be done to discover the whereabouts of Peng Shuai. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) initially received criticism for staying silent when Peng Shuai came out with her allegations against Zhang Gaoli.
The WTA has now released an official statement saying that all women including Peng Shuai deserve to be heard. Steve Simon, chairman and CEO of the WTA said the Chinese Tennis Association (CTA) had assured them that Peng Shuai was not under any physical threat and was safe but admitted that the WTA was unable to contact her and verify the same.
The WTA claimed that they would continue to call for information on Peng Shuai’s whereabouts. Chinese activists are also rallying back home calling for the safe return of Peng Shuai.
Top female tennis player Chris Evert took to Twitter to say she knew Peng Shuai since she was 14 and said any information on her whereabouts would be appreciated.
Yes, these accusations are very disturbing. I’ve known Peng since she was 14; we should all be concerned; this is serious; where is she? Is she safe? Any information would be appreciated.🙏 https://t.co/RH0aYCDqQm
— Chris Evert (@ChrissieEvert) November 14, 2021
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