By Alexander Smith and Tim Stelloh -
NBC News
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) questioned this Wednesday the veracity of an email allegedly sent by Peng Shuai, the Chinese player who has disappeared from the public sphere since she denounced on her social networks that she was Sexually assaulted by a former senior Communist Party official.
The organization's executive director, Steve Simon, said the e-mail, sent to the WTA and posted on the English Twitter account of the official Chinese news agency, only raises "concerns for his safety and whereabouts."
Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai during a match at the Australian Open held in Melbourne on January 21, 2020. Andy Brownbill / AP
"I have a hard time believing that Peng Shuai actually wrote the email we received or that he believes what is attributed to him," he explained.
The world needs "independent and verifiable proof that it is safe,"
claimed Simon.
"I have repeatedly tried to contact her through numerous forms of communication, without success," he explained.
The email in question begins by saying that it is Peng who writes it and in it he assures that he is not missing, but is at home resting.
The message could not be independently verified or reviewed by NBC News, the sister network of Noticias Telemundo.
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The email also criticizes the WTA for spreading information about Peng without her consent and
clarifies that the sexual assault charge was false
.
Zhang Gaoli, the former senior official in the Chinese Communist Party, whom tennis player Peng Shuai accused of sexually assaulting her.
The image was taken during a press conference in Beijing on November 15, 2012Vincent Yu / AP
The email came to light after Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka joined other players and figures claiming to know where the 35-year-old Chinese is.
Osaka, a former world No. 1 and winner of four Grand Slams, posted a message on Tuesday under the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai (Where is Peng Shuai), which has gone viral on social media.
"
Censorship is never okay at any price
. I hope Peng Shuai and her family are safe and well," Osaka wrote.
"I am shocked by the current situation and send her love and light," she added.
Male No. 1 Novak Djokovic said Monday that the situation is "shocking" and that he could not "imagine how his family feels."
Peng is one of the biggest stars in Chinese tennis in recent years.
He was number 1 in the world in doubles, a modality with which he won Wimbledon and the French Open in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
In early November, the athlete accused Zhang Gaoli, a 70-year-old former deputy prime minister, on her Weibo account, a Chinese platform similar to Twitter, of sexually assaulting her during an intermittent relationship they
both had when he was part of the regime
.
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The message, published on November 2, was quickly deleted and any debate on the networks on the subject
was stifled by the censorship applied by the Chinese authorities
.
Chinese officials did not respond to questions from NBC News when the allegations were released.
The Foreign Ministry also did not respond on Wednesday.
Zhang, who retired in 2018, also could not be reached.
Asked about Peng's whereabouts during a press conference in Beijing on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian replied: "It is not a diplomatic issue and I am not aware of the situation you have mentioned."
The accusations against Zhang, once one of China's most powerful officials, are the most prominent of the #MeToo movement in China.
"We have been deeply concerned about the uncertainty surrounding Peng's immediate safety and whereabouts," said Andrea Gaudenzi, president of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP Tour).
In a statement released Monday, he called for "
a full, fair and transparent investigation
" into his allegations.
The WTA executive director told The New York Times on Sunday that "various sources," including the China Tennis Association, had confirmed to him that Peng is "safe and under no physical threat."
Peng is not the first Chinese celebrity to suddenly disappear from the public eye.
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There was no news from movie megastar Fan Bingbing for nearly a year between 2018 and 2019, after authorities ordered her to pay $ 129 million in unpaid taxes and fines.
He resurfaced when he apologized and praised the policies of the Communist Party.
Chinese tech billionaire Jack Ma went
missing
for three months last year after making comments some interpreted as critical of Chinese financial regulators.