Alleged mail from Peng Shuai: Concern about missing tennis player

Tennis pro Peng Shuai has accused a Chinese ex-top politician of sexual abuse and has been missing since then. Now state media have spread an alleged email from her. The tennis world is very worried.

By Steffen Wurzel, ARD-Studio Shanghai

An alleged message from the missing Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai causes concern at the World Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).

The reason is an English text published by China’s state foreign television broadcaster CGTN, which is said to have been written by the 35-year-old. It literally states: “I’m not going to be missed, I’m fine. I’ve just rested a bit at home, everything is fine.”

The screenshot of this message shows the cursor of a word processing program, which is one of the reasons why many observers consider the alleged email from Peng Shuai to be forced or even forged.

Peng disappeared after allegations

The background to all of this are allegations that Peng Shuai made in early November against a former Vice Prime Minister of China. Zhang Gaoli had an affair with her and sexually abused her, Peng wrote on her Chinese social media account. This entry was deleted by the state censorship within a few minutes. The former world-class professional player has since disappeared from the public eye.

Answers to Peng are short

Foreign journalists have asked about Peng Shuai several times over the past few days at the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s regular press conference. The answers were short in each case:

He hadn’t heard anything about it yet, that wasn’t a question about foreign policy either, “next question!” – said China’s Foreign Office spokesman Wang Wenbin shortly after the allegations became known.

Tennis professionals worried

In the past few days, active and former tennis professionals around the world have expressed concern about Peng Shuai, including Naomi Osaka, Martina Navratilova and Novak Djoković, the number one tennis player.

The communist government obviously regards the fact that one of the most famous sports stars in China is accusing a former top politician of sexual assault as a great danger; this has become clear in the past few days.

All allegations deleted

Everything that has to do with Peng Shuai’s allegations has been deleted by the Chinese state censorship, such as countless online comments from Chinese social media users.

Use the mail to dispel worries

The fact that the Chinese state media are now trying to dispel concerns about Peng Shuai with an obviously forged or forced email fits into the picture, says Sophie Richardson of the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW). For example, forced self-accusations in the state media have also been seen in other cases, for example with the former Interpol boss Meng Hongwei or the artist Ai Weiwei.

Such texts are not about rational arguments or proving the truth: “China’s authorities tell the media what to report and the media do just that,” said Richardson.

The China director of Human Rights Watch, based in the USA, expressly welcomes the fact that the World Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) is campaigning for Peng Shuai.

WTA in great concern

WTA boss Steve Simon had previously stated that the alleged news of Peng Shuai published by the Chinese state media only increased his concerns about her safety.

He, too, obviously considers the text to be forced or falsified: Simon demanded that the Chinese professional player be allowed to express herself freely and without coercion or intimidation.