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Beijing, Nov 4: Chinese language authorities have squelched just about all on-line dialogue of sexual assault accusations apparently made by a Chinese language skilled tennis star in opposition to a former high authorities official, exhibiting how delicate the ruling Communist Social gathering is to such expenses. In a prolonged social media publish that disappeared rapidly, Peng Shuai wrote that Zhang Gaoli, a former vice premier and member of the get together’s omnipotent Politburo Standing Committee, had pressured her to have intercourse regardless of repeated refusals following a spherical of tennis three years in the past.
Her publish additionally stated that they had intercourse as soon as seven years in the past and she or he had emotions for him after that. Peng is a former top-ranked doubles participant, taking 23 tour-level doubles titles, together with Grand Slams at Wimbledon in 2013 and the French Open in 2014. The Related Press couldn’t confirm the authenticity of her publish, which was made late Tuesday evening by her verified account on Weibo, a number one Chinese language social media platform.
The publish was eliminated quickly after, and a search on Weibo for Peng’s account now turns up no outcomes. Neither she nor Zhang could possibly be reached for remark. The accusation is the primary in opposition to a distinguished authorities official because the #MeToo motion took maintain in China in 2018 earlier than being largely tamped down by authorities the identical 12 months. Earlier accusations had been confined to the media, advocacy teams and academia.
The Communist Social gathering’s response illustrates its willpower to regulate public discourse and restrain social actions it could actually’t ensure of controlling. Whereas social media has change into ubiquitous in China, it stays firmly below get together management. Screenshots of the publish have circulated on Twitter, which is blocked in China, reinvigorating dialogue on that platform about gender relations in China, the place males dominate the highest ranges in politics and enterprise.
Within the publish, Peng, 35, wrote that Zhang, now 75, and his spouse organized to play tennis in Beijing about three years in the past and that he later introduced her right into a room at his house the place the assault occurred. “I used to be so frightened that afternoon, by no means pondering that this factor might occur,” the publish says.
Rumors and abroad studies about affairs between youthful girls and main officers have lengthy been staples of Chinese language politics, beginning with the founding father of the Individuals’s Republic, Mao Zedong. Instances introduced in opposition to current and former officers below get together chief and President Xi Jinping’s decade-long anti-corruption marketing campaign additionally regularly function accusations of “lascivious existence,” together with bribery and abusing their positions.
Zhang retired in 2018 and has largely disappeared from public life, as is common with former Chinese language officers. Peng hasn’t performed on the high tier because the Qatar Open in February 2020. In singles, she reached the semifinals of the 2014 US Open and the Spherical of 16 on the subsequent Australian Open, however hasn’t progressed past the third spherical at any main since Wimbledon in 2017. The Communist Social gathering has more and more cracked down on civil society, together with the #MeToo motion that has struggled to realize traction within the nation. Zhou Xiaoxuan, a former intern at Chinese language state broadcaster CCTV, was shoved by bystanders in September as she went to court docket in a case in opposition to a widely known presenter. Since then, the motion has been largely shut down by authorities as activists discovered their on-line posts censored and confronted stress from authorities when attempting to carry protests. (AP) VM VM
Story first printed: Thursday, November 4, 2021, 16:38 [IST]
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