A French newspaper has published an exclusive but controlled interview with Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, where she repeated an earlier claim that she’d never been sexually assaulted and that her life is “nothing special”.
“I would like to know: why such concern?… I never said anyone sexually assaulted me,” she told L’Equipe in the interview, which was conducted at the Winter Olympics with a representative from China’s Olympic Committee who also acted as Peng’s translator.
“My life is as it should be: nothing special,” the headline of her interview read.
According to BBC’s China correspondent Stephen McDonell, the interview, granted by the Chinese Olympic Committee, was conducted under unusually controlled circumstances, including the fact that the newspaper had to submit their questions to the 36-year old in advance, and that an agreement had been settled where the newspaper would only publish Peng’s answers and not include any commentary.
Addressing her November 2021 Weibo post, which contained a 1,600-word essay accusing former Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli of coercing her into sex with him, Peng told L’Equipe the post had “given rise to a huge misunderstanding from the outside world”, though failed to elaborate on the nature of this ‘misunderstanding.’
Peng said she deleted the post soon after because she had “wanted to”.
Last December, she denied making the accusations in a video interview with Lianhe Zaobao, the largest Singaporean Chinese-language newspaper, saying, “I have never said or written that anyone sexually assaulted me. This point must be emphasised very clearly.”
In her latest interview with L’Equipe, Peng said she was “living a normal life”, a response repeatedly used to describe her condition by Chinese state officials in the past few months.
Peng also indicated in this interview that she may retire from professional tennis in the near future.
“Considering my age, my multiple surgeries and the pandemic that forced me to stop for so long, I believe it will be very difficult to regain my physical level,” she told L’Equipe.
In December, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced all tournaments in China would be suspended until further notice, citing Peng’s situation as the reason for its decision.
“I don’t see how I can ask our athletes to compete there when Peng Shuai is not allowed to communicate freely and has seemingly been pressured to contradict her allegation of sexual assault,” Steve Simon, WTA chairman announced in a statement.
On Monday evening, Simon released a statement, responding to Peng’s latest interview, saying, “It’s always good to see Peng Shuai, whether in an interview or attending the Olympic Games.”
“However, her recent in-person interview does not alleviate any of our concerns about her initial post from November 2.”
“To reiterate our view, Peng took a bold step in publicly coming forth with the accusation that she was sexually assaulted by a senior Chinese government leader.”
“As we would do with any of our players globally, we have called for a formal investigation into the allegations by the appropriate authorities and an opportunity for the WTA to meet with Peng – privately – to discuss her situation.”
“We continue to hold firm on our position and our thoughts remain with Peng Shuai.”
In an interview with internationally renowned artist Ai Weiwei, The Observer’s Kate Kellaway asked the 64-year old what he thought about the Peng Shuai situation.
“She is in the very safe hands of the Communist party,” Ai said. “They will make sure she behaves exactly according to the party. She may already be thinking she made a mistake in exposing this very deep, dark relationship.”
“She has put her family, friends, career at stake. There is no spirit for her any more. She has become another person, and whatever she tells you is not true.”