fredag 19. november 2021

Where is Peng Shuai? Why isn’t the IOC speaking out?

Where is Peng Shuai? It’s a question that must be asked — loudly, for everyone to hear — by the International Olympic Committee as it prepares to hold the Winter Games less than three months from now in Beijing. Peng is, after all, one of its own, a three-time Olympian and tennis trailblazer who suddenly disappeared into the morass of what passes for justice in China after accusing a former top government official of sexually assaulting her.

China has insisted that it doesn’t know what all the fuss is about, with a Foreign Ministry spokesperson saying Friday that the matter was “not a diplomatic question and I’m not aware of the situation.” An email released in Peng’s name by state media — which sounded more like something a hostage might say under extreme duress — backed off her initial allegation that an ex-vice premier and leading member of the ruling Communist Party had forced her to have sex despite repeated refusals.