Peng Shuai: Chinese tennis star denies making assault claim as concerns persist
IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIAImage caption,
Peng Shuai had previously written that she was forced to have sex with former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli
Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai has denied making an accusation of sexual assault, in her first media interview since alleging a top Chinese leader had coerced her to have sex.
Ms Peng sparked global concern when she disappeared from public view after posting the allegations online.
She has now said there had been "a lot of misunderstandings" about the post.
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) said it was still concerned that she was being censored by the state.
In the video interview with Lianhe Zaobao, a Singaporean Chinese-language newspaper, Ms Peng explained: "I have never said or written that anyone sexually assaulted me. This point must be emphasised very clearly."
In her original note, which was posted on the Chinese social media platform Weibo in November, she accused former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli of forcing her to have sex with him.
Ms Peng, who appeared to have trouble hearing the reporter in the interview, and seemed surprised at the line of questioning, said she was not under surveillance.
"Why would anyone monitor [me?] [I have] always been very free," she said.
Lianhe Zaobao is read in mainland China and has in recent years been known for its pro-Beijing coverage.
The interview was carried out on the sidelines of a sporting event in Shanghai, where she appeared with national athletes including basketball player Yao Ming. A video of Ms Peng speaking to the basketball star was posted to Twitter by a state media journalist in which the tennis player is the only person not wearing a mask.
Other images of her in Shanghai were posted to Twitter by sports executive Ding Li.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter
Responding to her latest comments, the WTA, the governing body of women's tennis, said it welcomed her appearance "in a public setting" but that it did not "alleviate or address… concerns about her wellbeing and ability to communicate without censorship or coercion".
"We remain steadfast in our call for a full, fair and transparent investigation… into her allegation of sexual assault, which is the issue that gave rise to our initial concern," the WTA said.
Peng Shuai had previously written that she was forced to have sex with former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli
Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai has denied making an accusation of sexual assault, in her first media interview since alleging a top Chinese leader had coerced her to have sex.
Ms Peng sparked global concern when she disappeared from public view after posting the allegations online.
She has now said there had been "a lot of misunderstandings" about the post.
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) said it was still concerned that she was being censored by the state.
In the video interview with Lianhe Zaobao, a Singaporean Chinese-language newspaper, Ms Peng explained: "I have never said or written that anyone sexually assaulted me. This point must be emphasised very clearly."
In her original note, which was posted on the Chinese social media platform Weibo in November, she accused former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli of forcing her to have sex with him.
Ms Peng, who appeared to have trouble hearing the reporter in the interview, and seemed surprised at the line of questioning, said she was not under surveillance.
"Why would anyone monitor [me?] [I have] always been very free," she said.
Lianhe Zaobao is read in mainland China and has in recent years been known for its pro-Beijing coverage.
The interview was carried out on the sidelines of a sporting event in Shanghai, where she appeared with national athletes including basketball player Yao Ming. A video of Ms Peng speaking to the basketball star was posted to Twitter by a state media journalist in which the tennis player is the only person not wearing a mask.
Other images of her in Shanghai were posted to Twitter by sports executive Ding Li.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter
Responding to her latest comments, the WTA, the governing body of women's tennis, said it welcomed her appearance "in a public setting" but that it did not "alleviate or address… concerns about her wellbeing and ability to communicate without censorship or coercion".
"We remain steadfast in our call for a full, fair and transparent investigation… into her allegation of sexual assault, which is the issue that gave rise to our initial concern," the WTA said.
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kt comments:
Presumably the "full, fair and transparent investigation" that the WTA has called for must be carried out by the USA or her allies. Incidentally by some extraordinary coincidence, the CEO of the WTA is Steve Simon, an American. (Hmmm, I wonder whether Mr Simon lives near Fort Detrick?)
I presume that it would help clear the air if Ms Peng Shuai would additionally:
(a) condemn the US-claimed Xinjiang massacre,
(b) call for the restoration of Nancy Pelosi's "Beautiful sight to behold" in Hong Kong, and
(c) demand that China stop its disconcerting production of modern military equipment (such as aircraft carrier, Type 055 destroyers, 4th and 5th generation aircraft, hypersonic nuclear missiles), and conduct of space activities (including the Tiangong space station),
(d) among many other tasks yet to be announced by WTA.
P/S
Japan has also requested that Ms Peng demands China to give up its claim on Diaoyu Dao (Senkaku Islands).
Taiwan appreciates Ms Peng to do same for the Island (and to eff with Chiang Kai Shek & son for insisting China and Taiwan are indivisibly One).
Biasa-lah.... we have seen it all in Malaysia.
ReplyDeleteAn unaccountable and authoritarian regime has the ability to cover up all abuses of power.
This is no different from the case of alleged paedophile UMNO Warlord Shahidan Kassim who was alleged to have molested an underaged girl.
The girl went quiet , then later reemerged saying it was all a misunderstanding, and Shahidan Kassim is a dear family friend.
God knows what severe pressure she and her family were subjected to recant her earlier accusation.
The B*stard is now Federal Territories Minister, and got away completely scot-free.
More than 20 years ago , Lim Guan Eng exposed the case of the former Malacca Chief Minister who was accused of sexually grooming an underaged girl.
The Chief Minister never got prosecuted, instead Lim Guan Eng was the one who was jailed.
Of course it's "biasa-lah" because of your bias. All because of too much Hollywood influence: US of A (the white) represent the the heroes and the good ones and the rest especially the colour people represent the villains and sold to you the American Dream which many so blindly embraced and ignoring the fact that US white were the earliest known civilized villains usurping the land and massacring the aborigines. With all the blood money gains from robbing other countries, cruel black slavery to carry out their labour works in the cotton field, these repulsive wealth gain without the white sweat "buy" them the path to the 1st and most advance country through the industrial revolution and in the fields of science and technology. And next came the Hollywood to brainwash the rest of the world and thus the Great American Dream. To you the American is never the bad guy and Socialists can never learn and become good in anyway! You are so naive lah.
DeleteWakakakaka…
ReplyDeleteStill trying to whitewash yr idol's ass!
"An unaccountable and authoritarian regime has the ability to cover up all abuses of power"
The numerous accounts of atrocities done in the name of Yankee demoNcratic wars all-over the world now been slowly dug-up by various investigators fit yr fart, right?
So r u telling the world that yr Yankee idol isis an authoritarian regime that has the ability to cover up all abuses of power?
Indeed biasa-lah for a blurred mfer bends on to look the other ways when wrongs r been committed by its idol!