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CHINESE TENNIS STAR Peng Shuai has denied saying she was sexually assaulted, despite a social media post from last month in which she appeared to make the accusation against a former top Communist Party official.
The Lianhe Zaobao Chinese-language newspaper posted a video of Peng taken yesterday in Shanghai in which she said she has been mainly staying at home in Beijing, but was free to come and go as she chose.
Peng told the paper: “First of all, I want to emphasise something that is very important. I have never said that I wrote that anyone sexually assaulted me. I need to emphasise this point very clearly.”
The reporter did not ask how or why the lengthy and highly detailed November 2 post appeared, or whether Peng’s account had been hacked.
The paper said it interviewed Peng at a promotional event for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, which begin on February 4.
She was filmed on the observation deck of a facility where she watched a freestyle ski competition alongside former NBA star Yao Ming and other Chinese sports figures.
Peng dropped out of sight after the accusation against former vice premier Zhang Gaoli briefly appeared on her verified Weibo social media before being swiftly removed.
Screenshots of the post were shared across the internet, drawing widespread concern about Peng’s safety from politicians, fellow tennis stars and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which announced it was suspending all events in China indefinitely.
Following the posting, the three-time Olympian and former Wimbledon doubles champion appeared standing beside a tennis court in Beijing, waving and signing oversize commemorative tennis balls for children.
The foreign arm of state TV also issued a statement in English attributed to Peng that retracted her accusation against Zhang.
WTA chief executive Steve Simon questioned the emailed statement’s legitimacy, while others said it only increased their concern about her safety.
In the Lianhe Zaobao interview, Peng said she wrote the statement in Chinese and it was later translated into English but that there was no substantive difference in meaning between the two versions.
Zhang (75) was a member of the party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee until 2018 and a top lieutenant to president and party leader Xi Jinping. He has not appeared in public or commented on Peng’s accusation.
Simon said the move to put a halt to the tour’s play in China, including Hong Kong, came with the backing of the WTA board of directors, players, tournaments and sponsors.
It was the strongest public stand against China taken by a sports body – and one that could cost the WTA millions of dollars.
The WTA chief has made repeated calls for China to carry out an inquiry into the 35-year-old Peng’s accusations and to allow the WTA to communicate directly with the former number one-ranked doubles player.
The International Olympic Committee has taken a different tack, with top officials saying they believe Peng is fine after video chatting with her.
The controversy surrounding Peng has added to protests over Beijing’s hosting of the Winter Games because of the government’s human rights abuses.
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A CE mark required for piece of weighted plastic and a ball bearing
FFS, where is all of this European crap going to bring us?
@Peter Hargan: it’d be interesting to see what the EU make of the 1970′s equivalent the clackers. Back then the Herald carried stories of kids losing an eye or getting repetitive strain injuries from clacking the nylon balls up and down too much.
@Peter Hargan: as said in the article a child had to have surgery to remove a piece lodged in his gullet- we need some regulations, as we know self regulation is no regulation
@Peter Hargan: Actually what is more interesting is that for items made in China then a CE mark stands for China Export and not a manufacturers declaration that the product complies with EU regulations.
Toys must comply with the Toy Safety Directive which I assume relate to safety and labelling and I would prefer to think that manufacturers of the toys I purchase will at least be declared compliant with the safety directives rather then anyone being allowed to make and sell whatever they like, safe or not, and give them to our children.
Without the CE mark we could be back to toys painted with lead laden paint – so I am in favour of at least some safety declaration.
I don’t understand how there can be such a thing as “Fake” fidget spinners since the patent ran out when the inventor couldn’t afford to pay.
The sub-title is misleading – these aren’t “fakes” they are dangerous ones.
@Ciarán FitzGerald: nope that story is bogus, her invention was nothing like what these spinners are
Where i live shops don’t call them “fidget spinners”……they call them “money spinners”
Meanwhile tonnes of heroin and cocaine enter the country under the noses of customs officials seen fidgeting with faulty fidget spinners
@Brian MacCarthaigh: LOL !
There’s a village near to where I live, there are countless residents there driving large Range Rovers, X-5s etc all with Northern registration plates. Customs staff, concentrate on the bigger picture, not on a few toys, toys which your colleagues if found to possess same while traveling through Dublin airport etc would be given nothing more than a nod and a wink.
Gardai are also reporting this but they’ve said..”2 fidget spinners siezed from children at a roadside checkpoint”
Fad Gadget.
@Blind Faith: ya think?
@Blind Faith: nice early 80s Avant Garde proto industrial electronic pop reference there
What a complete waste of effort – typing up and publishing this article and any associated comments.
Dead right, cause I remember there being ce marks on all the trees I played on growing up and the pebbles on the road always had small parts warnings
Or maybe people weren’t a bunch of overly controlled morons being told their every move by regulations.
nanny state,
I Love them
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