The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) responded to the refusal of the disappeared tennis player Peng Shuai in China to accuse the politician of rape. Reported by Reuters.
“These performances do not diminish or alleviate the WTA’s serious concerns about its well-being and the ability to communicate without censorship or coercion,” the association said. The WTA noted that they are happy to see Shuai again, but are calling for an uncensored, full, fair and transparent investigation into her allegations of sexual assault.
On December 19, Shuai explained her comments about former Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli. The athlete stated that she had never accused anyone of sexual assault.
On November 3, Shuai filed charges against 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, after which they did not see each other for a long time. In 2018, Gaoli invited Shuai to play tennis with him and forced him to have sex again. She stressed that the meetings happened against her will.
After that, the athlete stopped communicating. The Chinese state-run television station CGTN then published a letter that Shuai allegedly sent to the head of the Women’s Tennis Association, Steve Simon. In it, she denied the information about the loss.
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