Peng Shuai denies sexual assault allegations in new video, WTA not convinced
Missing Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai apparently released a video on December 19 saying that she had 'never accused anyone of sexually assaulting her', and that her social media post from early November had been 'misunderstood'. Shuai said in the video posted by Lianhe Zaobao, one of Singapore's media outlets, "First, I need to stress one point that is extremely important, I have never said or written that anyone has sexually assaulted me, I have to clearly stress this point." She also added that the then post was a 'private matter' and that "people have many misunderstandings” about her Weibo post from November 2.
Peng Shuai did not elaborate further over these 'misunderstandings' in her video.
On November 2, Shuai had posted on her Weibo claiming that that the former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli had coerced her into sex at his home. The post was deleted 30 minutes after she posted it, and since then, her Weibo account was unsearchable to users. (READ MORE HERE: What happened to Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai? What we know so far, in 10 points)
In the latest video, Peng Shuai also said that she had been living at home in Beijing without supervision and did not mention Zhang at any point. The video is apparently shot on the sidelines of a cross-country skiing event in Shanghai that she was attending.
Shuai also said in the video posted that she had personally written a letter last month, in Chinese, to Women's Tennis Association head Steve Simon. In the letter, she denied the allegations of assault, and that an English translation of it by Chinese state media was accurate.
Before this video, Shuai had been photographed at a tennis tournament in Beijing, and during dinner at a restaurant which was posted on Twitter by a state media editor. These are some of the images circulating on Twitter:
彭帅和我在一起。我们在北京网红餐厅，刚刚吃完晚饭 pic.twitter.com/Un5Q9oiQe9
— 丁力 (@li_ding1) November 20, 2021
Of course, people are skeptical of this new video.
Due to concerns over Shuai's safety, the Women's Tennis Association announced this month that it will suspend all tennis related tournaments in China. This announcment came a couple of months before the Winter Olympics are set to begin in Beijing. China had responded to this announcment by saying that it “opposes the politicisation of sports”.
After the release of Shuai's new video, the WTA released a statement that read, "It was again good to see Peng Shuai in a public setting and we certainly hope she is doing well. As we have consistently stated, these appearances do not alleviate or address the WTA’s significant concerns about her well-being and ability to communicate without censorship or coercion."
Peng Shuai has been 'missing' since after her accusation of sexual assault by Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. China is known for its severe censorship of critics.