Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai said on Sunday that he had never accused anyone of sexual harassment and that a post he made on social media earlier last month was misinterpreted.
Peng’s well-being became a matter of concern among the global tennis community and human rights groups when she accused former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of committing sexual harassment against her in the past. After that publication, she was out of public view for nearly three weeks.
“First, I need to emphasize a point that is extremely important, I have never said or written that someone has committed sexual harassment, I must clearly emphasize that point,” Peng said in a video posted by Lianhe Zaobao, a Singapore media outlet.
Peng’s comments on Sunday marked the first time she broached the subject in public. The tennis player spoke during a cross-country skiing event in Shanghai, in which she participated.
She said her posting on Weibo, a social media site similar to Twitter, which was quickly removed, was a “private matter.”
Peng, 35, said in the video that “people had a lot of misunderstandings” about its publication on Weibo. She didn’t give further details. She also said she is living in her Beijing home unsupervised. She didn’t mention Zhang.
Reuters has not been able to contact Peng since the tennis player’s publication on Weibo.
Earlier this month, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which sought a direct line of communication with Peng, said it would suspend tournaments in China immediately because of concerns about the treatment of Peng and the safety of other players. The WTA did not comment on the matter on Sunday and Zhang was silent.
Discussion of the scandal, which erupted as Beijing prepares to host the Winter Olympics in February, has been heavily censored in China.
Peng said in the video posted on Sunday that she had personally written a letter last month to WTA chief Steve Simon in which she said she had denied the allegation of harassment, and that an English translation of it by Chinese state media was accurate. .
Simon said at the time that he “had difficulty believing” that Peng actually wrote the letter.
At the event in Shanghai this Sunday, Peng appeared on a fifth-floor balcony with athletes from a variety of sports, including former NBA basketball star Yao Ming, and watched the event for about 20 minutes, according to the Lianhe report. Zaobao.
She wore a black jacket with the flag of China and a red T-shirt with the characters of China.
(Por Tony Munroe e Yew Lun Tian)
Reference: CNN Brasil

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