BEIJING – China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday remained adamant that it was not aware of the controversies surrounding the tennis expert. Peng Shuai, who disappeared after accusing a former top official of sexually assaulting her.
Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters the matter “is not a diplomatic question and I don’t know about the situation.”
The department has consistently denied knowledge of the matter since Ms. Peng made the allegation more than two weeks ago.
The 35-year-old former top-ranked tennis player in women’s doubles won titles at Wimbledon in 2013 and the French Open in 2014. She also competed in three Olympics, making her disappearance all the more dramatic. More prominent when Beijing will host the Winter Olympics starting in February. . 4.
The International Olympic Committee, which declined to comment on Friday, said in an emailed statement: “Experience has shown that quiet diplomacy offers the best chance of finding solutions to these questions. of such a nature. This explains why the IOC will not comment further at this stage.”
Peng wrote in a lengthy social media post on November 2 that she was forced to have sex despite being bullied by Zhang Gaoli, a former deputy prime minister who was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee. full authority of the Communist Party, rejected several times three years ago.
The post was quickly removed from her verified account on Weibo, a leading Chinese social media platform, but screenshots of the explosive allegation were shared on the internet.
Steve Simon, president and chief executive officer of the Women’s Tennis Association, questioned the veracity of what a Chinese state media outlet said this week was an email to him, in which Peng said she was safe and the assault allegation was untrue. It was tweeted by CGTN, the international arm of China’s state broadcaster CCTV.
The State Council Information Office, which represents the Chinese government, did not respond to email questions about Peng’s current situation and Simon’s suspicions about the email.
