Saving your life under communist regime- Chinese tennis star Peng denies she made accusation of sexual assault

(Reuters) – Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai said on Sunday that she had never accused anyone of sexually assaulting her, and that a social media post she had made early last month had been misunderstood.

Peng’s well-being became a matter of concern among the global tennis community and rights groups when she appeared to allege that a former Chinese vice premier, Zhang Gaoli, had sexually assaulted her in the past. After that post, she was absent from public view for nearly three weeks.

“First, I need to stress one point that is extremely important, I have never said or written that anyone has sexually assaulted me, I have to clearly stress this point,” Peng said in the video posted by Lianhe Zaobao, a Singapore media outlet.

Peng’s remarks on Sunday marked the first time she had addressed the matter on camera in public. She spoke on the sidelines of a cross-country skiing event in Shanghai.

She said that her post on Weibo, a Twitter-like social media site, which had been quickly removed, was a “private matter”.

Peng, 35, said in the video that “people have many misunderstandings” about her Weibo post. She did not elaborate.

She also said she had been living at home in Beijing without supervision. In the video, she was not asked about Zhang and did not mention him.

Reuters has been unable to reach Peng since her Weibo post.

The Women’s Tennis Association, which early this month said it would suspend tournaments in China immediately due to concerns over the treatment of Peng and the safety of other players, continued to call for an investigation.

“It was again good to see Peng Shuai in a public setting and we certainly hope she is doing well,” the Florida-based WTA said in a statement.

“As we have consistently stated, these appearances do not alleviate or address the WTA’s significant concerns about her well-being and ability to communicate without censorship or coercion,” the WTA said.

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On Tuesday night, a long message detailing the allegations was posted on the verified Weibo social media account of professional tennis player Peng Shuai, 35. It was deleted within minutes but screen grabs have been widely shared, including by Bill Bishop, who writes the influential Sinocism newsletter and confirmed to NBC News that he saw the live post before it was removed. 

In the now-deleted post, which did not include a clear timeline of events, Peng said she had consensual sex with Zhang, who is married, several times over the past 10 years. But she said one of these occasions was nonconsensual. She did not say exactly when the alleged assault took place and said she was unable to provide evidence of her allegations.

“That afternoon, I was very afraid. I didn’t expect it to be like this,” she said in the post on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform similar to Twitter. “I didn’t agree to have sex with you and kept crying that afternoon.”

This week, internet searches or comments about the alleged assault were blocked on Weibo, and users were unable to search for Peng’s profile or comment on her previous posts. The word “tennis” was also censored, meaning the platform’s 500 million-plus users were not able to directly discuss the sport at all.