It sounds like a story from a movie. But unfortunately it is real …
The Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai (35) seems to have disappeared without a trace after her serious allegations against the former Vice President Zhang Gaoli (75). Now even other professionals and the World Association of Women (WTA) are worried about the double specialist.
Shuai accused Gaoli of raping her in 2018 on Weibo, China’s Twitter, on November 2. Never before has such a senior member of the Chinese government been confronted with such serious allegations.
The post was deleted by Chinese censors just 20 minutes after it was posted. Shuai’s Weibo account also no longer exists.
It gets worse: Shuai himself seems to have disappeared without a trace since then. Neither the WTA nor other tennis professionals can contact the Wimbledon and French Open winner. There are more and more unsettling posts under the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai (German: Wo ist Peng Shuai).
The four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka (24) writes: “I was just informed that a tennis player disappeared shortly after she announced that she had been sexually assaulted. Censorship is never okay under any circumstances. I hope you are safe and okay. I am shocked about the current situation and send her my love. “
It is doubtful that Shuai is doing well. The disappearance of people critical of the system is the order of the day in China and is even legally covered. On the instructions of the Communist Party, a special unit is allowed to take people out of circulation for up to six months without informing relatives. What happened to the victims during this time is unknown …
WTA boss Steve Simon told the New York Times that the Chinese federation had assured him that Shuai was safe and physically intact. Simon: “According to my information, she is in Beijing, China, but I cannot confirm that because I did not speak to her directly.”
For Chinese human rights lawyer Teng Biao, the matter is clear. Biao on Twitter: “If the only information about Peng Shuai’s whereabouts and safety comes from the ‘Chinese Tennis Association’, it means that the Chinese government has made her disappear and that she is not safe.”
Simon has asked China to conduct a full investigation into Shuai’s allegations against Gaoli and an end to censorship. The WTA boss threatens to stop tournaments in the country.
It is very unlikely that this will help Shuai …