Chinese tennis champion Peng Shuai, who was presumed missing on Sunday, November 21, appeared in public for the first time in three weeks and was caught on video. The 37-second video was published by Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Chinese state publication Global Times, in his Twitter-account.
According to the caption to the video, Peng Shuai took part in the opening ceremony of the finals of the junior tennis competition in Beijing. When announcing her name, the tennis player looked a little constrained, she greeted the audience with her hand and bowed to the audience.
TASS draws attention to the fact that Hu Xijin published this video only on Twitter, access to which is blocked on the territory of China. At the same time, on the editor’s page in the Chinese social network Weibo, there is not a single post about Peng Shuai or mention of the situation around her. The Chinese search engine “Baidu” (an analogue of the Google-blocked search engine in the country) also does not give out a single message about Peng Shuai in the last month, including her appearance in public on Sunday.
Earlier, the Chinese journalist Shen Shiwei published a photo allegedly sent to him in the chat by tennis player Peng Shuai, who is believed to be missing. Users, as well as Western media, do not consider the images provided as proof of the athlete’s safety. Shen Shiwei’s Twitter account has been tagged as a state media account.
On November 19, the head of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Steve Simon, said the organization could refuse to host competitions in China if the authorities did not reveal the whereabouts of the champion tennis player.
On November 18, the Chinese state-run news channel CGTN released a letter on behalf of Peng, in which she denied accusations against former Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli. The WTA does not believe that this is the message of the athlete herself and requires independent evidence. According to the Western media and the organization itself, the disappearance of the tennis player is due to the reaction to the accusations by the Chinese authorities.
The scandal erupted in early November. Peng Shuai has filed charges against Zhang Gaoli on the Chinese social network Weibo. According to the tennis player, the first time a politician forced her to have sexual intercourse ten years ago. She retired in 2015.
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