Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai claims to be 'safe' in video call with IOC chief

Peng Shuai, the 35-year-old Chinese tennis professional, said she was "safe and well" following speculation about her apparent disappearance, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Sunday.

Peng had a 30-minute video call with IOC chief Thomas Bach, who was joined by Emma Terho, the head of the IOC Athletes' Commission, and an IOC member in China Li Lingwei "who has known Peng Shuai for many years."

"She explained that she is safe and well, living at her home in Beijing, but would like to have her privacy respected at this time," the IOC said in a statement.

"I was relieved to see that Peng Shuai was doing fine, which was our main concern. She appeared to be relaxed," IOC's Emma Terho was quoted as saying. "I offered her our support and to stay in touch at any time of her convenience, which she obviously appreciated."

The tennis player also thanked the IOC "for its concern about her well-being."

Peng's whereabouts have been a matter of growing international concern. She had not been seen or heard from since accusing a former Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault in a social media post on November 2. Her social media post was quickly deleted and account on the microblogging Sina Weibo platform was made unavailable.

The Chinese government has refused to comment on the accusations or Peng's location. When asked, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters that the issue was "not a diplomatic question and I'm not aware of the situation."

Earlier on Sunday, however, official photographs and a video published by organizers of a tennis tournament in China appeared to show her among the attendees.

The editor-in-chief at the Chinese state-owned newspaper The Global Times tweeted the footage of Peng at the Fila Kids Junior Tennis Challenger Finals. Peng was seen dressed in a dark blue jacket and white trousers.

Peng Shuai appeared in footage published in Chinese state-owned media earlier on Sunday

The Women's Tennis Association (WTA), which has been vocally calling for proof of Peng's whereabouts, called the evidence "insufficient." It added that the footage does not address the WTA's concerns.

The photos and the video call come after an email, which the Chinese state media attributed to Pen, failed to reassure the international public. The email said that the story regarding her and the former top officials was not "verified by myself and it was released without my consent."

"The news in that release, including the allegation of sexual assault, is not true," the email reads. "I'm not missing, nor am I unsafe. I've just been resting at home and everything is fine."

But the head of the WTA, Steve Simon, publicly questioned the email's validity.

"I have a hard time believing that Peng Shuai actually wrote the email we received or believes what is being attributed to her," WTA chief Steve Simon wrote earlier this week.

"The WTA and the rest of the world need independent and verifiable proof that [Peng] is safe," Simon said, adding he has "repeatedly tried to reach her via numerous forms of communication, to no avail."

Expressions of concern, outrage and support have come from across the tennis world — including tennis superstars Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, and Novak Djokovic, as well as former tennis stars Chris Evert and Billie Jean King, among others.

Watch video 01:57 Concern mounts over disappearance of Chinese tennis star

Earlier this week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Chinese authorities should "provide independent and verifiable proof of her whereabouts and that she is safe."

Liz Throssell, a spokeswoman for the UN human rights office in Geneva, said it was calling for "an investigation with full transparency into her allegation of sexual assault."

She said this was vital to ensure accountability and justice.

Britain on Saturday urged China to provide "verifiable evidence" about the "safety and whereabouts" of Peng.

Newisnewa on November 21st, 2021 at 18:46 UTC »

Here's the original post she made on Weibo on November 2nd that was censored instantly and started the whole controversy. It should have been translated by English language media outlets in full so that people heard her words directly but no media organization in the west or china translated this

Original Post: https://i.imgur.com/eD75e96.jpg

Full translation:

I know I cannot explain this clearly, and even if I say it, it won't matter, but I still want to let it out. I am a hypocrite. I admit I am not a good woman, and am in fact, a very very bad woman. About three years ago, Zhang Gaoli vice president, you retired. You asked Dr. Liu at the Tianjin Tennis Centre to contact me, and asked me with play tennis with you at Kang Ming Hotel in Beijing. After we finished playing tennis, you and your wife Kang Jie brought me to your home. Then you took me into your room. Like what happened ten years ago in Tianjin, you wanted to have sex with me.

That afternoon I was very afraid. I did not expect this to happen - someone helped guard outside (translator note: not very clear what she's trying to say here), because nobody would believe that a wife would allow this. About seven years ago, we had sex. Then later on after you got promoted to be a member of the Politburo Standing Committee in Beijing, you never contacted me again. I used to bury everything inside me. After all, if you didn't want to take any responsibility, why did you come back for me, and brought me to your home to have sex? It is true that I don't have evidence. It is also not possible to leave evidence. Later on you kept denying, but it is true that you were attracted to me first, otherwise I couldn't have been able to come into contact with you.

That afternoon I didn't agree, and I kept crying. I had dinner with you and auntie Kang Jie together. You said the universe is very very big. The earth is merely a speck of sand in the universe , and us human beings are smaller than even a speck of sand. You said a lot more than that, and the purpose was basically to persuade me to drop my guard. After dinner, I was still not willing to have sex. You said you hated me. You said in those seven years, you never forgot about me, and you will treat me well etc... I was terrified and anxious. Taking into consideration the affection I had for you seven years ago, I agreed... yes, we had sex.

Romantic attraction is such a complicated thing that explain it clearly. From that day on, I renewed my love for you. Throughout my time with you after that, purely based on our interactions, you were a very good person, and you treated me well. We talking about recent history, as well as ancient eras. You educated me on so many topics, and we had discussions about economics, politics. We never ran out of things to talk about. We played chess, sang, played table tennis, played pool and also played tennis together. We always had endless fun. It was as if our personalities fit perfectly together.

I left home early (translator note: professional athletes in China frequently leave their families at a very early age to train full-time). On the inside, I am extremely deprived of love. In the middle of all of this, I never thought I was a good woman. I hated myself, I hated why I came to this world. You told me you loved me, very very much, and you said you hope in the next life, we can meet each other around the age of twenty, or eighteen. You said you were lonely. You pitied yourself for being alone. We had endless things to talk about, never ran out of topics. You said in your position, it is impossible to divorce. If we met in Shandong (translator note: a province of China, of less political significance than Beijing), you would have been able to divorce, but not now. I thought I would just accompany you quietly, not making any noise.

At the beginning, everything was fine. But as time goes on, things started to change gradually. There was so much unfairness and humiliation. Every time you asked me to go to you home, behind your back your wife said so many ugly and hurtful things to me. All kinds of jeer and mockery. I said I like to eat duck tongue. Auntie Kang Jie would go, "ew so disgusting". In the winter when Beijing had poor air quality due to smog, auntie Kang Jie would say, "it is because you live in the countryside. We don't feel that at all here". Things like that, she said so much of them. When you were with me, she never said those things. It is similar to when we were together. When we were together alone, you acted one way, but when there were other people near by, you would act another way.

I have told you this before, hearing those things made me feel very hurt and humiliated deep down. Since the first day when I knew you, I have never used a cent of your money, neither have I ever used you to obtain any benefits for myself, but this thing called reputation, is so important. Everything that has happened, I deserve it. I have brought everything upon myself.

From the beginning to the end, you told me to keep our relationship a secret, and most importantly of all, I was to never tell your mom we were having sexual relationships. Because it was her who drives me to the Church of the Saviour (translator note: a church in Beijing) every time, and then I would have to change to your car to be able to get into the gated apartment complex. She thought I was always just at your place to play Mahjong or poker. We were always just transparent individuals in each others lives. Your wife was like the queen in The Legend of Zhen Huan (translator note: a very popular show about power struggle within an ancient Chinese royal family), while words couldn't describe how embarrassed I felt.

There were so many times where I thought, am I still a human? I thought I was a soulless creature, faking, faking everyday, which one is the real me? I shouldn't have come to this world, but I don't have the courage to die.

I really want to just live simply, but things turned out different than what I wanted. On the 30th, we argued very badly. You said on the afternoon on the 2nd, we would go to your home to slowly talk it out. Today at noon, you called to say you are busy, denied everything, made excuse to say we would talk another day... and just like this, you disappeared again, just like seven years ago.

You played with me, and dumped me when you are done with me. You said there were no transactions between us. Yes, that is true, our affection towards each other had nothing to do with money or power. But I have a hard time finding closure for, and coming to terms with our three year long relationship. You were always scared I would secretly bring a recording device, and leave evidence. That's right, other than me, I do not have any evidence to prove what happened, no audio recording, no video taping. The only thing I have is memory from my own messed up self.

For someone as prominent as yourself, I know you said you are not afraid. But it doesn't matter if I'm hitting a rock with an egg, or being a moth that flies towards the flame, I am telling the truth about what happened between us. With your intelligence and wits I am sure you will either deny it, or blame it on me, or you could simply play it cool. You always say you hope your mother in heaven could bless you. I am a bad woman who doesn't deserve to be a mother, but you are a father with both boy and girl. I have asked you this before, would you have done the same even to your adopted daughter? Do you still have the courage to face your mother after what you have done in your lifetime? We sure all like to pretend we are virtuous...

autotldr on November 21st, 2021 at 18:01 UTC »

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 85%. (I'm a bot)

Peng Shuai, the 35-year-old Chinese tennis professional, said she was "Safe and well" following speculation about her apparent disappearance, the International Olympic Committee said on Sunday.

Peng had a 30-minute video call with IOC chief Thomas Bach, who was joined by Emma Terho, the head of the IOC Athletes' Commission, and an IOC member in China Li Lingwei "Who has known Peng Shuai for many years."

The editor-in-chief at the Chinese state-owned newspaper The Global Times tweeted the footage of Peng at the Fila Kids Junior Tennis Challenger Finals.

Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: Peng#1 tennis#2 Chinese#3 IOC#4 concern#5

hcoo on November 21st, 2021 at 17:56 UTC »

why IOC instead of WTA

WTA started the fire but you are reaching IOC in hope of saving winter Olympics