The Chinese Foreign Ministry reiterated on Friday that it was not aware of the controversy surrounding the professional tennis player Peng Shuai, who disappeared after accusing a former high-ranking official of having sexually abused her.
This issue “It is not a diplomatic issue and I am not aware of the situation,” Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters.
The Ministry has consistently acknowledged ignoring the matter since Peng made the accusation two weeks ago.
Peng, 35, is a former world number one tennis player in doubles who won titles at Wimbledon in 2013 and at Roland Garros a year later. He also participated in three Olympic Games, making his disappearance even more relevant as Beijing prepares to host the Winter Olympics from February 4.
Liz Throssell, a spokeswoman for the United Nations human rights agency in Geneva, said on Friday she was calling for “a full transparency investigation into her sexual assault charge.”
“And I think we would say this is the way it should be with all sexual assault allegations. It is important in reality to guarantee accountability, to guarantee justice for the victims, ”he said.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) declined to comment on Friday, arguing in an emailed statement that “experience shows that silent diplomacy offers the best opportunity to find a solution to issues of this nature. This explains why the IOC will not comment on anything else at this stage ”.
In a lengthy social media post on November 2, the tennis player recounted that Zhang Gaoli, a former deputy prime minister and member of the powerful Standing Committee of the Communist Party Politburo, forced her to have sex despite her repeated refusals three years ago.
The text was removed from his verified account on Weibo, China’s largest social media platform, but screenshots of the explosive complaint quickly circulated online in the country.
For his part, Steve Simon, president and general director of the professional women’s tennis tour (WTA), questioned the authenticity of what, according to the Chinese press, was an email addressed to him in which the athlete said she felt safe and claimed that the sexual assault charge was not true. The note was tweeted on Thursday by CGTN, the international arm of China’s state broadcaster CCTV.
The Information Office of the State Council, which represents the Chinese government, did not respond to questions sent via email about Peng’s current situation and Simon’s concerns about the email.
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