Peng Shuai denied sexual assault she accused a government official of a few weeks ago, throwing the entire case for a loop.
The Chinese tennis star said back in November that she had been sexually assaulted by a former Chinese Communist Party leader. Her accusations had far-reaching consequences, with the Women’s Tennis Association coming into conflict with the Chinese government.
However, the two-time Grand Slam doubles champion backtracking on her claims has now turned it into a political and sporting issue. Peng denied sexual assault by the government official she accused, and said that her claim was taken out of context.
In a video posted by Singaporean publication Lianhe Zaobao, Peng said, “There’s been a lot of misunderstanding,” with regards to a now-deleted social media post of hers.
“I wanted to make this very clear: I have never claimed, or written about anyone having sexually assaulted me.”
Peng also denied the claims that she was put under house arrest, saying, “Why would someone keep watch over me? I’ve been very free all along.”
A mess
The WTA ended up suspending all tournaments in China after what they claimed was “censorship” of Peng’s sexual assault by the government official. The suspension went into effect almost immediately, drawing the ire of the government.
The Chinese state media released a message in response which contradicted the statement that she was under house arrest. In the message, Peng said she was safe despite going off the grid.
Peng’s latest message to Lianhe Zaobao is therefore throwing out more questions than answers. Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, said that he had “only deepening concerns” about the political conflict.
“Tennis star Peng Shuai now claims she never accused anyone of sexually assaulting her — after having clearly accused a senior Chinese official of precisely that,” he tweeted.
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