What has become of the Chinese tennis player, Peng Shuai? Was it all fake news?

[JW Insider]

This story is still getting coverage on the news. (It was usually reported that a Chinese tennis player had accused a high-ranking Chinese government official of sexual assault and then suspiciously "disappeared.")  Yesterday, I heard the same story repeated on our local NPR news station and there was an interview with a representative of the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) saying they would pull out of China for all the final tournaments because even though they have spoken with her and she confirms she is OK, they don't think she is "really" OK.

That wording sounded oddly typical, but I could understand a legitimate concern for such a person, too, just as I would for a situation like this anywhere else in the world. But then the conversation took an interesting turn. They said they were hoping to use her example to try to get other sports to pull out of the Winter Olympics in China, and that this case can help draw attention to civil rights abuses, and the genocide of Uyghurs. I didn't even know there was an upcoming Winter Olympics in China, and there is so much money in sports that I had my doubts that the politics the WTA was pushing would really win out over financial incentives for other sports (and other countries) to mount a boycott. The NPR interviewer praised them for this altruistic goal.

I have already seen a lot of evidence about how the "genocide of Uyghurs" has been massively exaggerated. And I had just read evidence that Western media had purposely lied to create a false story about a few, small "social credit" experiments that had been tried in a couple of Chinese cities but were abandoned.  So I was all the more suspicious that this story had been exaggerated, too.

I had already heard that there were pictures of her going out to dinner and even playing tennis and giving autographs to young persons. But I didn't really look into it in any depth until yesterday and quickly discovered that the most likely scenario here is that it was entirely fake news. Peng Shuai had never even accused anyone of sexual assault. I read several full translations of the original post that she wrote on her social media site, Weibo, and which she later took down. I wanted to see why people were reading "assault" into it.

I'll provide a link to a pretty good summary of the entire affair, and copy major portions of it below.

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/12/the-missing-star-athlete-peng-shuai-is-not-missing-at-all.html

[JW Insider]

I am posting most of the main article from the link above, but without the comments below that article. The writer linked to it, but did not include the entire translation of the original Chinese post by Peng Shuai, which is an open letter to the person she had the affair with. As always, there are some phrases in Peng's original post for which Google Translate can produce questionable meanings, but Peng herself made sure that she included the fact that it was all consensual, even using that word, so that there would be no misunderstanding and so that no one would get the idea that she was accusing the man of anything sinister.

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The 'Missing' Star Athlete Peng Shuai Is Not Missing At All

The New York Times has falsely claimed that the Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai accused her former lover of sexual assault. She did not do that.

In her post on the Chinese website Weibo (English translation) Peng Shuai only lamented that the relation with her old lover had come to an end. She did not accuse him of anything that could be considered an assault. The NYT made that up.

Peng Shuai did write:

Romantic attraction is such a complicated thing that explain it clearly. From that day on, I renewed my love for you. Throughout my time with you after that, purely based on our interactions, you were a very good person, and you treated me well. We talking about recent history, as well as ancient eras. You educated me on so many topics, and we had discussions about economics, politics. We never ran out of things to talk about. We played chess, sang, played table tennis, played pool and also played tennis together. We always had endless fun. It was as if our personalities fit perfectly together.

What an 'assault'!

Still the Times has continued to wrangle the non-issue into various 'news' pieces and editorials. It is obviously using it to bash China.

On today's front page we find this nonsense.

bigger

The women’s professional tennis tour announced Wednesday that it was immediately suspending all tournaments in China, including Hong Kong, in response to the disappearance from public life of the tennis star Peng Shuai after she accused a top Communist Party leader of sexual assault.

With the move, the Women’s Tennis Association became the only major sports organization to push back against China’s increasingly authoritarian government. Women’s tennis officials made the decision after they were unable to speak directly with Peng after she accused Zhang Gaoli, a former vice premier of China, in social media posts that were quickly deleted.

Peng Shuai did not disappear from public life. She has sent an email to the WTA which asked to respect her privacy. She has posted pictures of herself and video showed her taking part in a public tennis event and going to dinner in a public restaurant. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has held a 30 minute video conference with her and found her well and happily alive.

Despite that the WTA and especially Steve Simon, its chief executive, have instead gone public with the issue and continue to intrude her privacy.

The IOC in contrast has been discrete and has shown respect for Peng Shuai's privacy. A short clip of their video call was published with her consent.

And today the IOC announced that it had another video call with Peng Shuai:

We share the same concern as many other people and organisations about the well-being and safety of Peng Shuai. This is why, just yesterday, an IOC team held another video call with her. We have offered her wide-ranging support, will stay in regular touch with her, and have already agreed on a personal meeting in January.

Unlike the NYT and loudmouth Steve Simon the IOC knows how to behave itself:

There are different ways to achieve her well-being and safety. We have taken a very human and person-centred approach to her situation. Since she is a three-time Olympian, the IOC is addressing these concerns directly with Chinese sports organisations. We are using “quiet diplomacy” which, given the circumstances and based on the experience of governments and other organisations, is indicated to be the most promising way to proceed effectively in such humanitarian matters.

It is no wonder then that Peng Shuai does not want to talk with the WTA's Steve Simmon but stays in contact with the IOC.

The IOC again confirms that Peng Shuai is safe and well:

The IOC’s efforts led to a half-hour videoconference with Peng Shuai on 21 November, during which she explained her situation and appeared to be safe and well, given the difficult situation she is in. This was reconfirmed in yesterday’s call. Our human and person-centred approach means that we continue to be concerned about her personal situation and will continue to support her.

If the NYT were a decent paper it would stop its Peng Shuai campaign and delete its false claims of 'sexual assault' accusations and the 'missing' athlete.

But unfortunately it isn't.

Posted by b on December 2, 2021 at 11:30 UTC | Permalink

[TrueTomHarley]

Someone has overplayed their hand then, is what you are saying?

[JW Insider]

20 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Someone has overplayed their hand then, is what you are saying?

Underhanded or at least backhanded.

[TrueTomHarley]

1 hour ago, JW Insider said:

Underhanded or at least backhanded.

At last, to my mind, you have scored a definitive hit, not a dubious one.

I’ll be carrying on about how I love big brother next.

[Pudgy]

At least you will get free dental care, after they knock out your teeth ....

 

[Equivocation]

In short - The Chinese Government does not mess around or you'll "disappear" for a while. I heard for the new variant of COVID-19 they skipped over Nu and Xi. The the Omicron variant might have been called "Nu" or "Xi", but as you can see, no one want to risk it for the biscuit regarding China.