New Delhi: A video of China’s missing tennis star Peng Shuai is going viral on social media. The video, posted by the editor of the ruling Communist Party newspaper, shows Shuai watching a match on Sunday. The ruling party is trying to allay fears about Shuai’s safety abroad. Shuai, who was a partner of Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, had recently accused the former Deputy Prime Minister of China of sexual harassment.
Global Times editor Hu Jin posted Shuai’s video on Twitter, which most Internet users in China cannot see. The video shows Peng Shuai standing with five others, to which Hu Jin said it was a youth championship in Beijing. Earlier on Saturday, Hu Jin made a statement on Twitter that Peng would soon appear in public.
What is the whole matter?
Peng wrote in a lengthy post on social media earlier this month that a former deputy prime minister forced her to have sex despite persistent denials. The post has been removed from Peng’s confirmed account on China’s major social media platform Weibo, and China’s entirely state-controlled media suppressed all news on the issue.
Peng, 35, wrote that Zhang Gaoli, a former deputy prime minister and member of the ruling Communist Party, had forced her to have sex three years ago, despite repeated denials after a round of tennis. During this incident, Zheng’s wife was guarding the door.
Peng’s disappearance and the government’s silence have prompted talks of boycotting the Beijing Winter Games in February, a prestigious tournament for the Communist Party. The women’s professional tour has also threatened to snatch the tournament from China if it does not assure the former number one doubles player is safe.
