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With the eyes of the world on China for the Winter Olympics, tennis star Peng Shuai appeared before the international media—assuring everyone that she had never actually accused a former top Chinese Communist Party official of sexual assault, and that the attention on her was an “enormous misunderstanding.“
Her denial on Monday, in the form of a highly controlled in-person interview in the Beijing Olympic bubble with French sports newspaper L’Equipe, was the latest in a series of retractions that she has been repeating for months. In the interview, Peng—who is one of China’s highest-profile athletes, having won two Grand Slam doubles titles—also seemed to announce that she was retiring from international tennis competition.
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Then, on Tuesday, she made an in-person appearance alongside International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach at the women’s big air event—the highest-profile moment yet of the 2022 Winter Games, in which star Chinese free skier Eileen Gu won her first gold medal, in dramatic fashion.
Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of China’s nationalist tabloid Global Times, summed up China’s expectations that Peng’s very public appearances ought to be the last word on the matter. “Western media should respect her own explanation, such as whether she was sexually assaulted,” he tweeted. “Peng’s own explanation is most credible.”
Hu blamed the West for having “maliciously interpreted” Peng’s post on Chinese social media in November, in which she said retired Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli coerced her into having sex with him.
Read more: China Is Trying to Make Peng Shuai’s Allegations Disappear
Experts and activists, however, say that Peng’s denials only raise more questions about whether she is facing threats or repercussions from her accusation on social media. Moreover, they argue that her statements cannot be taken at face value. “Western media and the public at large easily and rightfully recognize that all the…
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Source : time
