An enigmatic text which does not reassure anyone.
The boss of the WTA, which manages the women's professional tennis circuit, expressed his "concern" about the safety of Peng Shuai and said he doubts official information from China on the champion.
The tennis world has not heard from the player since she accused a former senior Chinese official in early November of forcing her to have sex.
"The statement released today (Wednesday) by Chinese official media regarding Peng Shuai only increases my concern for his safety and location," wrote Steve Simon in a statement released Wednesday evening.
"I find it hard to believe that Peng Shuai actually wrote down the email we received and that she could mean the words attributed to her," he adds.
Serious doubts about the authenticity of the message
Chinese state broadcaster CGTN unveiled on Twitter on Wednesday evening the screenshot of an email attributed to Peng Shuai, which the Chinese player allegedly sent to the WTA management, without the authenticity of the message being confirmed. .
Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai has sent an email to Steve Simon, the WTA Chairman & CEO, CGTN has learned.
The email reads: pic.twitter.com/uLi6Zd2jDI
- CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) November 17, 2021
The comments in the originally suspicious post go against the claims of Peng Shuai, who accused a former deputy prime minister of coercing her into sex three years ago.
"The information, especially concerning the accusation of sexual assault, is false," said the player in this message.
“I am neither missing nor in danger.
I was just resting at home, everything is fine.
Thanks again for hearing from me ”.
The content of this message raised doubts as to its authenticity: Twitter users noted that a cursor was visible on the message broadcast by CGTN, an inexplicable phenomenon for a screenshot.
"The Chinese government has a long experience of arbitrarily detaining people"
In the past, the Communist regime has been accused of broadcasting forced confessions of suspects on the public media.
The same channel CGTN had its license withdrawn in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the year for having broadcast a "confession" attributed to a British citizen arrested in China.
"Peng Shuai's latest statements, published by public media, should not be taken at face value," said William Nee, of the
Human Rights Defenders
in China.
"The Chinese government has a long experience of arbitrarily detaining people involved in controversial cases, preventing them from speaking freely and forcing them to make public statements," he said in a statement.
"It's up to the Chinese government to prove that she is not in detention."
The head of the international organization of women's tennis observed that Peng Shuai had "shown incredible courage in describing sexual violence which she says she was the victim of by a former senior Chinese leader."
He also claims "independent and verifiable proof" that the player is safe.
No direct response to WTA requests
"I tried several times to reach her by different means of communication, in vain," he said, demanding that Peng Shuai "be allowed to express himself freely, without coercion or intimidation of any kind.
"
The 35-year-old former doubles world No. 1 accused former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli on social media, who was one of China's seven most powerful politicians from 2013 to 2018 , to have forced her to have sex before making her his mistress.
This accusation was briefly posted on November 2 on the player's official Weibo account (a Chinese equivalent of Twitter).
China quickly blocked any reference to this message, which AFP was unable to confirm if it had been written by it.
Since then, the player has not communicated or made a public appearance and Zhang Gaoli has never reacted publicly to these accusations.
Questioned several times, the spokespersons of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said to ignore everything about this affair and refused to comment, arguing that it was not a diplomatic file.
Any reference to this case remains censored on the Chinese internet.
