The International Olympic Committee has defended its handling of Chinese tennis player
Peng Shuai's disappearance from public life as "quiet diplomacy," amid criticism of its approach. "Everybody should be concentrating on the well-being of Peng Shuai and not trying to use this for any other purpose," Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., IOC member and chair of the Coordination Commission for Beijing 2022, said at a virtual press conference Tuesday.
"Don't write it off the silent diplomacy, it's a very powerful tool and we plan to stick to that," he added.
Concerns have been raised over Peng's safety after the sports star
publicly accused a former top Communist Party official, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, of coercing her into sex at his home three years ago in a since-deleted social media post dated November 2.
