Former world No.1 doubles player Peng Shuai has stunned her home country by claiming that she was assaulted by a former top communist leader in a social media post which has since been deleted.
35-year-old Shuai says was ‘forced’ her into having sex with former Chinese vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. The BBC reports that it is the first time such serious allegations have been made against a Chinese senior political figure. In a detailed post on social media site Weibo, the multiple Grand Slam winner said Gaolio first pressure her into having sex with him after she attended his house to play tennis.
“That afternoon I didn’t give my consent and couldn’t stop crying,” she wrote. “You brought me to your house and forced me and you to have relations”.
Shuai’s open letter to Gaoli claims she had a relationship over an intermittent period spanning 10 years which began after the assult. Although she admits to having no evidence to prove the claims that she has made. Meanwhile, Gaoli has not publicly responded to the allegations that have been made against him.
“Why did you have to come back to me, took me to your home to force me to have sex with you? Yes, I did not have any evidence, and it was simply impossible to have evidence,” she wrote.
“I couldn’t describe how disgusted I was, and how many times I asked myself am I still a human? I feel like a walking corpse. Every day I was acting, which person is the real me?”
Shortly after Shuai posted her open letter online, authorities moved swiftly to remove it and any other posts associated with it on the internet. According to CNN, it was taken down after just 30 minutes of publication and groups which have been sharing screenshots of the post have also been censored. Furthermore, her Weibo account has been blocked from searches and users are currently unable to comment on her posts. It was also reported at the time searches for Shuai’s name and even the word ‘tennis’ was blocked for a brief period.
China has one of the strictest policies in the world regarding internet censorship. Known as the ‘great firewall’ the country uses laws and technologies to enforce censorship. Social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter are blocked. Furthermore, content which is deemed politically sensitive or inappropriate is removed from the internet.
Due to the strict regulation, it will be hard to verify such claims made by Shaui. Although the Japanese news agency Kyodo quoted an unnamed Chinese journalist as saying that the allegations ‘look reliable.’
Meanwhile, Bloomberg has reported that a Chinese official was questioned about the Shuai during a regular press conference in Beijing on Wednesday. Wang Wenbin, who is a foreign ministry spokesman, said “I haven’t heard of it and it isn’t a diplomatic question.” This is the only comment that has been made by a government official on the matter so far.
Shuai was the first Chinese player in history, male or female, to reach world No.1 in the doubles back in 2014. During her career, she has won 25 WTA titles, but only two of those occurred in singles. She last played on the Tour at the Doha Open back in February.
Since her Weibo post, Shuai has not spoken in public.