WTA ‘willing’ to pull tennis tournaments out of China over Peng whereabouts

An outcry over the whereabouts of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai escalated on Friday as the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said it was prepared to pull its tournaments out of China over the issue, prompting an influential Chinese state media editor to criticise the organisation for using a “coercive tone”.

Former doubles world number one Peng has not been seen or heard from publicly since she said on Chinese social media on Nov. 2 that former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli coerced her into sex and they later had an on-off consensual relationship.

Neither Zhang or the Chinese government have commented on her allegation. Peng’s social media post was quickly deleted and the topic has been blocked from discussion on China’s heavily censored internet.

WTA Chief Executive Steve Simon told various U.S. media outlets on Thursday the tour would consider pulling tournaments worth tens of millions of dollars out of China.

China has been the focus of the WTA’s most aggressive expansion over the last decade and hosted nine tournaments in the 2019 season with a total $30.4 million of prize money on offer.

“We’re definitely willing to pull our business and deal with all the complications that come with it,” he told CNN in an interview.

“Because this is certainly, this is bigger than the business. Women need to be respected and not censored.”

Hu Xijin, the editor of the Global Times, responded to Simon’s comments on Friday on Twitter, saying “don’t use a coercive tone when expressing any concern to China.

“Perhaps you did it out of goodwill. But you should understand China, including understanding how the system you dislike has promoted the actual rights of the 1.4 billion Chinese,” said Hu, whose newspaper is published by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily.

Concern among the global tennis community and beyond has grown over Peng’s safety and whereabouts since her allegation, with the WTA calling for an investigation. Some of the world’s top tennis players, including Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, as well as the German Olympic Committee, have tweeted #WhereIsPengShuai.

By Friday, the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai had racked up over 32m mentions on Facebook’s Instagram, which is also blocked in China, as well as Twitter, according to hashtag analysis website BrandMentions.

In contrast, the topic remains heavily censored in China’s tightly controlled cyberspace. As of Friday, searches for the WTA’s official account on Weibo yielded no results although its account remained available. Peng’s name on Weibo also continues to yield no search results.

The issue has also emerged as China prepares to host the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February amid calls from global rights groups and others for a boycott over its human rights record. The International Olympic Committee has declined to comment on Peng’s matter, saying it believed “quiet diplomacy” offered the best opportunity for a solution.

By Reuters