Where is Shuai Peng? Detective and shameful story

Chinese tennis player Shuai Peng has long been known throughout the world. The 35-year-old athlete was a finalist at the Australian Open, reached the semi-finals of Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Together with Xie Shuwei, she won the doubles of the British and French Grand Slam tournaments, and also competed at three Olympics.

A few days ago, Shuai Peng disappeared.

On November 2, Peng accused former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. She posted this on the Chinese social network Weibo. The post stayed there for about half an hour until the network administration removed it.

The reaction of the Chinese authorities is quite typical for an authoritarian state. Namely, the complete disregard of the problem as such. Zhang Gaoli is now 70 and no longer in politics, but the Chinese Communist Party is not going to investigate any allegations of its former high-ranking official. Everything could calm down at the “one word against another” stage, but then the tennis player literally disappeared. And in recent days, the only news from her has been an email in which she denies all previous accusations. Of course, sent to a Chinese newspaper.

The difference between the communist world 30-40 years ago and the modern one is that we live in the information age. Literally, nothing disappears without a trace if it has social weight or creates a resonance. No fact can be completely hidden if famous people are involved in it. Also, not a single person disappears without a trace without outside influence.

Shuai Peng is a world-famous tennis player who has many friends, acquaintances or colleagues with whom she communicates frequently. And this is all over the world. There are many channels of communication directly with the person. The fact that Peng voluntarily ignores all external communication channels, and she chooses only one – a letter sent from e-mail, is hard to believe.

The Chinese media also found a way to explain her absence. Like, yes, he voluntarily avoids communication, he wants to relax. That everything is fine with her, and that she will soon appear in public. And almost every day, photos and videos of the tennis player began to appear. Healthy and smiling. Which willingly communicates with the official Chinese media, but rests from the whole world.

The first information is a photo in the room among the toys. Naturally, published by the Chinese edition. Here, someone could joke about the famous “Chinese production” meme, but the situation is not up to jokes.

Peng Shuai update: Chinese state media is now heavily pushing 3 photos which were purportedly posted on Peng’s WeChat moments feed. It would be comical how staged they are if it weren’t for the seriousness of the situation. #WhereIsPengShuai https://t.co/JFSBydtTcP pic.twitter.com/aQxRgLSyDQ

— Jack Hazlewood (@JackHHazlewood) November 19, 2021

Next, Peng visited a Beijing restaurant. Had a fun conversation at the table, took pictures with the waiters. The photo was published … To say that, an absolutely random person – well, that’s very mild. The Twitter account they appeared on is believed to be a Chinese tennis fan. Who has written two posts so far and was last active in 2019. And only a few days ago I started posting exclusive content.

彭帅pengshuai一起吃的饭。北京的宜宾招待所，据对网红餐厅@WTA @atptour @cilic_marin @DjokerNole @usopen @wimbledon @andy_murray pic.twitter.com/e1e4lF2f41

— 丁力 (@li_ding1) November 20, 2021

To be clear: Twitter is officially banned in China. Without a number of not quite legal ways or without the opportunity to leave the PRC, an ordinary person (not an official) will not be able to go there. Yes, you got it right. A random fan was silent for two and a half years, suddenly became a witness to unique events in Beijing, and for several days in a row publishes them on a social network that is forbidden for him, which the easiest way to get into is after leaving China. It happens, well.

Then the news about the tennis player came on Sunday morning already from the editor-in-chief of the state Chinese edition of Global Times. Shuai Peng allegedly attended the opening ceremony of the final match of the junior tournament in Beijing.

Later, a video appeared where the tennis player signs large souvenir balls for children.

The WTA was very quick to comment that the last video was not enough. WTA CEO Steve Simon said: “It’s great to see her, but it’s not clear from this video if she’s still free and is able to make decisions and act without coercion“.

The reaction of the whole world remains unanimous. Many athletes and officials are sounding the alarm, but it is not yet clear how the situation can be clarified.

In particular, the press secretary of the US President Jane Psaki commented on the disappearance and the accusation of violence. Moreover, in words so familiar to every Ukrainian. Namely, it expressed “deep concern”.

The WTA does not trust Beijing’s official position and is concerned about the tennis player’s safety. In particular, Steve Simon has previously said that he does not believe in a voluntary letter published through a Chinese newspaper. The Association is very determined and even ready to sacrifice the Chinese tournaments. Yes, it will cost the WTA contracts hundreds of millions of dollars, but the organization says it can take the step.

And the human rights organization Amnesty International has already applied to the International Olympic Committee with a demand to move the next winter Olympics from Beijing. In addition to the situation with the tennis player, they point to a large number of human rights violations by the Chinese authorities. And, as you might guess, the IOC has no plans to refuse contracts with the Chinese government.

But the committee reacted quickly – its president, Thomas Bach, talked to the girl. According to the IOCin a 30-minute conversation with Bach, Peng thanked him for taking care of her well-being and assured him that she was fine.

As for tennis players, almost all world stars spoke out in support of Peng.

Serena Williams demands a swift investigation into the disappearances and allegations of violence. Roger Federer called on the IOC to put pressure on the Chinese authorities to provide real evidence of its safety. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and many others have also joined and want to see her healthy and safe as soon as possible.

Quite often we hear the slogan “sport is out of politics”. As a rule, instantly life proves that this is not so. No public sphere is outside of politics. In any case, there are still states that consider it their norm to interfere in sports.