How China made tennis player Peng Shuai a warning to dissident voices

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai is one of her country's most recognized athletes. However, she learned the hard way that nobody, no matter how famous they are, is above the government in China.

Peng was the first Chinese tennis player to become a world champion in her category, which quickly made her a celebrity in her own country. This also brought her unwanted attention and strict scrutiny from the Chinese government.

The world-famous Chinese tennis player suddenly disappeared in November 2021. The WTA leadership has argued that Peng is currently under strict control of the Communist government following controversial statements about a high-ranking government official.

The Western world demanded to know where she'd gone, and there were suspicions that the Chinese government of her country might have put her in jail or worse.

The Chinese tennis star, seen here watching the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, had been at the center of what some Western media, such as France24, dubbed the “Chinese #MeToo Movement.”

Meanwhile, Peng Shaui's accusations, disappearance, and eventual reappearance have caught the attention of many human rights activists in the West. Here you can see her image during a US Congress hearing titled “The Beijing Olympics and The Faces of Repression.”

Despite China's best attempts to keep the scandal under the rug, around the globe the claims the tennis player made against former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli are still a matter of speculation.

The 35-year old female tennis world champion had posted on the Chinese social network Weibo that she had been repeatedly assaulted by Zhang Gaoli. He was the Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China between 2013 and 2018.

“But even if it's just striking a stone with a pebble, or a moth attacking a flame and courting self destruction, I will tell the truth about you,” posted Peng Shuai on Weibo about Zhang Gaoli.

Local authorities deleted all related messages and censored any references to the case on the Chinese internet.

As such, the mystery of Peng Shuai was born. Western media grew suspicious that the Chinese government had taken repressive actions, something that humanitarian organizations have signaled before. Was Peng Shuai detained?

The hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai quickly spread on social media. Japanese tennis champion Naomi Osaka said she was "shocked" by the situation. Other tennis players and athletes of every type of sport spoke out.

On November 17, 2021, after 15 days without any sign from her, Chinese state television network CGTN posted an e-mail supposedly written by Peng Shuai to the WTA chairman, Steve Simon. Many, including Simon himself, questioned the e-mail's authenticity.

The email released by CGTN said the following: “Hello everyone, this is Peng Shuai. (…) The news in that release, including the allegation of assault, is not true. I'm not missing, nor am I unsafe. I've just been resting at home and everything is fine. Thank you again for caring about me.”

Even after Peng was seen during a children's tournament in Beijing (pictured) on November 21, 2021, questions have remained around the case. Images like this one were heavily circulated by Chinese state media.

Image: Weibo China Open

Also on Sunday November 21, 2021, Peng Shuai held a conversation with International Olympic Committee (IOC) chairman Thomas Bach. The tennis player explained to him that she was "safe and well, living at her home in Beijing, but would like to have her privacy respected at this time," according to a press release by the IOC. There's little question that he had, indeed, spoken to Peng Shuai.

The day before the conversation, Hu Xijin, a journalist who has close ties with the Chinese government, posted a video of Peng Shuai having dinner at a restaurant with her coach. The table talk in the video brings up the date of the recording, an oddity that generated more questions than answers.

Image: Sky News

William Nee, research and advocacy coordinator of the group Chinese Human Rights Defenders, didn't believe told The Guardian that “The Chinese government has a long history of arbitrarily detaining people involved in controversial cases, controlling their ability to speak freely, and making them give forced statements.”

One of those skeptical about the video and Peng Shuai's sudden reappearance was Steve Simon, chairman and CEO of the Women's Tennis Association.

“While it is positive to see her, it remains unclear if she is free and able to make decisions and take actions on her own, without coercion or external interference,” Simon stated.

“This video does not change our call for a full, fair and transparent investigation, without censorship, into her allegation of sexual assault, which is the issue that gave rise to our initial concern,” declared Simon at the time.

The three-time Olympian, seen here talking with International Olympics Committee president Thomas Bach, gave an interview with the French sports newspaper L'Équipe. There, she claimed that the sexual abuse allegations she made were “a misunderstanding.”

The incident affected the relationship between the Women's Tennis Association and the People's Republic of China.

CNN reported that the Women's Tennis Association, after not playing in China since December 2021, decided to return to the country in 2023, effectively finishing the boycott.

“We’ve been in this for 16 months and we are convinced that at this point our requests will not be met,” Simon told BBC Sport.

“To continue with the same strategy doesn’t make sense and a different approach is needed. Hopefully, by returning more progress can be made,” stated Simon.

People can really only speculate what happened behind the scenes with Peng Shuai. One can only hope that, someday, the powerful men who exploit their position to abuse those under them will be held accountable, one way or the other.