Disappearance of Peng Shuai: Chinese regime releases new images of the player to calm the West

It's an uncomfortable dining scene.

In the images, Peng Shuai, missing since the beginning of the month, is surrounded by two women with whom she shares a meal and wine in a noisy place.

A man sits across from the tennis player and the conversation is about "games".

"Tomorrow is November 20" (Saturday), he said, before being interrupted by one of the guests: "It is November 21" (tomorrow Sunday).

The exchange, without interest, seems to be staged, and is filmed on a cell phone by an unidentified person.

Peng Shuai appears relaxed.

But for the Chinese regime, the message is clear: go your way, there is nothing to see.

彭 帅 pengshuai 一起 吃 的 饭。 北京 的 宜宾 招待所 ， 据 对 网 红 餐厅 @WTA @atptour @cilic_marin @DjokerNole @usopen @Wimbledon @andy_murray pic.twitter.com/e1e4lF2f41

- 丁 力 (@ li_ding1) November 20, 2021

The objective is clear: to show a smiling Peng Shuai, at a time when international pressure is increasing on China to obtain information on the fate of the player.

Peng Shuai's friend, who sent Peng's latest pictures, shared a video of friends dinner.

pic.twitter.com/UVFltgOxbH

- Shen Shiwei 沈 诗 伟 (@shen_shiwei) November 20, 2021

Peng Shuai, 35, former world number 1 doubles player and star in her country, has not come forward publicly since accusing Zhang Gaoli, a powerful ex-Communist Party official 40 years her senior, of having raped her.

Her initial message, briefly posted in early November on the player's official Weibo account before being censored on the Chinese Internet, described an upset sentimental relationship with married Zhang before he rose to high office.

Since these claims, the fate of Peng Shuai has been the subject of enormous concern around the world.

To read also Tenniswoman Peng Shuai, Jack Ma, Fan Bingbing ... in China, the old strategy of "enforced disappearance"

"In recent days, she has stayed at home in complete freedom and did not want to be disturbed," said Hu Xijin, influential editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a Chinese daily with a decidedly nationalist tone and close to power, on Saturday.

Peng Shuai "will show up in public soon," he wrote in English at midday (Beijing time) on Twitter, blocked in China.

Hu in the evening posted two videos of the player "having dinner with her coach and friends in a restaurant" in Beijing and shot the same day, she said.

All the tweets being addressed to the WTA or western public figures like Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray having openly asked for news from their colleague.

彭 帅 和 我 在一起。 我们 在 北京 网 红 餐厅 ， 刚刚 吃完 晚饭 pic.twitter.com/Un5Q9oiQe9

- 丁 力 (@ li_ding1) November 20, 2021

No media was able to confirm the location or the conditions in which the footage was shot.

And Hu Xijin made no reference to it on his Weibo account in Chinese.

The journalist's last tweet was from… 2012!

In a statement released on Saturday, WTA President Steve Simon found it "positive" to see the athlete, but "video alone is not enough" to show that she is "free in her decisions and actions. ", He said, still" concerned about the health and safety of Peng Shuai ".

Several countries, through diplomatic channels, including the United States and France, have expressed "concern" about the fate of the Chinese player.

Twitter accounts in defense of China flourish

And on Friday, the UN asked for proof that she is doing well, as the hashtag #WhereisPengShuai (# WhereestPengShuai) spread like wildfire on social media.

Four allegedly recent snapshots of the tennis champion were subsequently published by the Twitter account @shen_shiwei, labeled "media affiliated with the Chinese state" by the social network.

Peng Shuai's WeChat moments just posted three latest photos and said “Happy weekend”.

Her friend shared the three photos and the screenshot of Peng's WeChat moments.

pic.twitter.com/tut8CEH6gu

- Shen Shiwei 沈 诗 伟 (@shen_shiwei) November 19, 2021

One of the photos shows the player smiling with a cat in her arms in what appears to be her home. In the background, soft toys, a trophy, a Chinese flag and accreditations are visible. Another photo shows a selfie of Peng Shuai with a Kung Fu panda figure, an animated film for children. In the background appears a frame with a picture of Winnie the Pooh. The Twitter account in question says in English that these photos were posted privately by the player on a social network to wish "good weekend" to her contacts.

In recent years, however, many Chinese diplomats and official media have created accounts there to defend, sometimes doggedly, China's point of view. Already Wednesday, the Chinese public television CGTN had sown the disorder, by revealing a screenshot of an email attributed to Peng Shuai. The channel intended for a foreign audience then said that the Chinese player had personally sent it to the management of the WTA, which manages the professional women's tennis circuit.

On CNN, his boss Steve Simon expressed Thursday his perplexity vis-à-vis the message in which the champion declares "false" his accusations against Zhang Gaoli.

“I don't believe that's the truth at all,” Simon said, calling the email “staged”.

The Peng Shuai case is censored in China and the player's entourage declined to comment.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Gaoli, who was one of China's seven most powerful politicians from 2013 to 2018, has never publicly reacted to the player's accusations.