Peng Shuai seen in first round match against Japan’s Nao Habino at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Jan 21, 2020. Has contacted the IOC and informed them that she well and safe and in Beijing (AP News file photo)

Mystery in the Tennis World: Where is Peng Shuai?

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Ms.Peng Shuai is 35, from China and one of the top professional tennis players in the world. She is ranked #1 in doubles in the world by the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association). This top women’s tennis association was founded in 1973 by Billy Jean King in London, England, with US headquarters in St.Petersburg, Florida.

Ms.Peng recently accused Mr.Zhang Gaoli, 75, a retired politician who served as the senior Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China from 2013 to 2018 and a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, which is China’s highest ruling council.

According to Ms.Peng, Mr. Gaoli invited her to his home about 3 years ago and that she was raped. “That afternoon I didn’t consent at first” and added “I was crying the entire time”. Ms.Peng Shuai wrote a note on November 2 on Weibo (a Chinese social platform) and in this post she made the announcement to the public.

Since then she has not been seen in person. Last week there was a statement that it was released by the Chinese media and allegedly was written by Ms.Shuai. However, it looked contrived and many are concerned that she did not write it, but was produced from the government.

According to the New York Times, the tennis star disappeared from public view after she made the accusation. This weekend the editor of a Communist Party controlled newspaper posted a video clip that appeared to show Ms.Peng eating at a restaurant and later at a tennis event in Beijing. But the world has little confidence on what the Communist controlled media of China releases to the world. Steve Simon an official of the WTA said he remained skeptical that Ms.Peng was making decisions freely.

During the covid-19 pandemic, record shows that many doctors and virologist spoke about this virus in a way not beneficial to the government and were quickly silenced. Many disappeared and have not been seen since the beginning of the epidemic that according to most “in the known” began at the Wuhan Laboratories. China’s communist government has a long record of their treatment of people who threaten to undermine public confidence in the party’s senior leaders.

Even before this incident was revealed the United States was and still considering a move to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing this next February for their dismal record in human rights violations. It is believed that Chinese authorities may have detained between 1.5 to 2 million people, mostly Uyghurs and other ethnic Muslims and Christians and have internment into secret camps of forced labor.

For Ms.Peng Shuai is just another incident that is “piling on” the Chinese government record and treatment of humans in all sectors of life. The United Nations lists China as one of the top world human rights violators.

When it comes to the media in China, it is understood that unlike here in the US, where you have all types of opinions and most are never censored by the government, in China, the media can be censored because they are directly under the rule and control of their government. In other world; what the Chinese media says, is basically the official word of the communist government of that country and Sports are also under the control of that government.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com