Tennis Star Silenced After Accusing Former Chinese Leader of Sexual Assault
A tennis star who took to social media to accuse a former Chinese government official of sexual assault has had her post removed.
Peng Shuai became the latest woman to join China's #MeToo movement when she accused a former Chinese leader of sexual assault.
Shuai's account were removed within 30 minutes of the allegations being posted.
Peng Shuai Sexual Assault Allegations
Peng Shuai posted her sexual assault allegations on Weibo, a leading Chinese social media platform.
She claimed that she had been pressured by the 75-year-old into having sex following a round of tennis in 2018.
The post was more than 1,600 words long. In it, the 35-year-old tennis star alleged that she had an on and off relationship with the leader over at least 10 years.
"Why did you have to come back to me, took me to your home to force me to have sex with you?" she wrote.
It is unclear whether the allegations involved sexual touching for extended to sexual intercourse without consent.
"I couldn't describe how disgusted I was, and how many times I asked myself am I still a human? I feel like a walking corpse. Every day I was acting, which person is the real me?"
China's #MeToo movement has targeted academics, NGO workers and celebrities. This is the first time allegations have surfaced against a Communist Party member.
"We must realize how remarkable it is for Peng Shuai to choose to speak out. Few people would have the courage to do that, because it could come at the expense of the safety of yourself and your family," said Lv Pin, a prominent Chinese feminist now based in New York.
Shuai previously competed in Grand Slams at Wimbledon in 2013 and the French Open in 2014.
Peng Shuai Weibo Post Removed
However, Peng Shuai's post was removed within half an hour. A search on Weibo for Peng's account now turns up no results - although her account is still visible. All comment sections under her previous posts have been shut down too.
Screenshots of the post had initially circulated across social media and in private chat groups. However, these were also censored too.
Efforts to silence discussion extended to a Weibo discussion page about tennis which was closed for comments.
On Douban, China's IMDB-like movie review website, the page of Korean romance TV show "Prime Minister and I" was censored, after users discussed Peng's case in its review
Wang Wenbin, spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, refused to answer questions on the matter during a news conference stating, "I haven't heard of it and this isn't a question about diplomacy."
Media outlets have reached out for comment but did not receive any response.
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