Bach and the Peng case: a conversation that raises questions

China’s state media have launched a video offensive supposedly to prove to the world that the missing tennis player Peng is fine. The head of the IOC was also employed for the campaign.

The case of the professional tennis player Peng Shuai, who disappeared in China, is becoming an international political issue. The UK and US governments have urged China’s leaders to make sure the 35-year-old is safe.

The state foreign media in China tried over the weekend to get rid of the Shuai case with supposed evidence videos. They showed recordings of the apparently happy Shuai at a children’s tennis tournament and at a meal with friends in a restaurant.

Tennis association threatens to break off relations

The way the videos are cut, however, has some oddities. The dialogues also seem rehearsed. The women’s tennis world association WTA was correspondingly full of doubts. It remains unclear whether Peng is free and whether she can really make her own decisions, said WTA President Steve Simon.

The association has openly threatened to sever all relations with the People’s Republic of China, even if that meant major financial losses.

Criticism of IOC President Bach for video switching

On the other hand, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is relying on demonstrative cooperation with China’s leadership in the Pengi case. President Thomas Bach spoke to her for half an hour via video, the IOC said. Peng has assured that she is fine, but at the moment she does not want to be disturbed.

International observers assume that the IOC has let itself be harnessed by China’s security authorities. A spokeswoman for the human rights organization Human Rights Watch reacted indignantly, calling the German IOC chief’s approach a “completely new form of collaboration” with China’s leadership.

Peng had accused China’s former Vice Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault in early November. Since then, the 2013 Wimbledon double winner has not been seen in public. Everything to do with the case is completely concealed and censored within China.