Shuai mentioned that her submit on Weibo, a Twitter-like social media website, which had been shortly eliminated, was a ‘non-public matter’
BEIJING: Chinese language tennis star Peng Shuai mentioned on Sunday that she had by no means accused anybody of sexually assaulting her, and {that a} social media submit she had made early final month had been misunderstood.
Peng’s well-being turned a matter of concern among the many international tennis neighborhood and rights teams when she appeared to allege {that a} former Chinese language vice premier, Zhang Gaoli, had sexually assaulted her prior to now. After that submit, she was absent from public view for almost three weeks.
“First, I must stress one level that’s extraordinarily vital, I’ve by no means mentioned or written that anybody has sexually assaulted me, I’ve to obviously stress this level,” Peng mentioned within the video posted by Lianhe Zaobao, a Singapore media outlet.
Peng’s remarks on Sunday marked the primary time she had addressed the matter on digicam in public. She spoke on the sidelines of a cross-country snowboarding occasion in Shanghai.
She mentioned that her submit on Weibo, a Twitter-like social media website, which had been shortly eliminated, was a “non-public matter”.
Peng, 35, mentioned within the video that “individuals have many misunderstandings” about her Weibo submit. She didn’t elaborate.
She additionally mentioned she had been dwelling at house in Beijing with out supervision. Within the video, she was not requested about Zhang and didn’t point out him.
Reuters has been unable to succeed in Peng since her Weibo submit.
The Ladies’s Tennis Affiliation, which early this month mentioned it could droop tournaments in China instantly as a result of considerations over the remedy of Peng and the protection of different gamers, continued to name for an investigation.
“It was once more good to see Peng Shuai in a public setting and we actually hope she is doing effectively,” the Florida-based WTA mentioned in an announcement.
“As we’ve got persistently acknowledged, these appearances don’t alleviate or deal with the WTA’s important considerations about her well-being and skill to speak with out censorship or coercion,” the WTA mentioned.
“We stay steadfast in our name for a full, honest and clear investigation, with out censorship, into her allegation of sexual assault, which is the problem that gave rise to our preliminary concern.”
China has in a roundabout way commented on Peng’s preliminary submit, however mentioned after the WTA’s transfer to droop tournaments in China that it “opposes the politicization of sports activities”. learn extra
Zhang has not commented on the matter.
PATRIOTIC ATTIRE
Dialogue of the scandal, which emerged as Beijing prepares to stage the Winter Olympics in February, has been tightly censored in China.
On Sunday, Peng appeared on a fifth-floor viewing balcony with athletes in numerous sports activities, together with former NBA basketball star Yao Ming, and watched for about 20 minutes, the Singapore paper mentioned.
The three-time Olympian wore a black jacket with a China flag and a crimson T-shirt bearing the characters for China.
Beforehand, Peng had been seen in pictures showing at a tennis event in Beijing, and in a video having dinner at a restaurant that was posted on Twitter by a state media editor.
On Twitter, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch, Yaqiu Wang, commented sarcastically on the interview, “Wow, so pure, very actual, everybody now believes it. Congratulations, the CCP!” The reference was to China’s ruling Communist Get together.
Peng mentioned within the video posted on Sunday that she had personally written a letter final month to WTA head Steve Simon, through which she denied the allegation of assault, and that an English translation of it by Chinese language state media was correct.
Simon had mentioned on the time that he “had a tough time believing” that Peng had really written the e-mail or believed what had been attributed to her.
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