EU joins calls for 'independent and verifiable proof' of Peng Shuai's whereabouts
South China Morning Post
5 min read
The European Union has called for China to provide "independent and verifiable proof" of the "well-being and whereabouts" of tennis star Peng Shuai, as international concern for her grows despite efforts by Chinese state media to present her as safe and active.
"We have seen Peng Shuai's presumed remarks over the weekend. However, the reports, both about the allegations of abuse and the fact that she has not been seen for two weeks, remain very worrying," Nabila Massrali, the EU's spokeswoman on foreign affairs, told the South China Morning Post.
Peng disappeared from the public eye in early November after she apparently accused a retired top government official of pressuring her into sex.
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"We are not in a position to comment on the allegations themselves, but we urge a full and transparent investigation," Massrali added in comments emailed on Monday. "The requests for reliable information are legitimate and remain. We call on the Chinese government to provide independent and verifiable proof of her well-being and whereabouts."
The EU joins the United States in asking for verifiable proof, amid concern that video and photographic footage of Peng Shuai that appeared on Chinese state media over the weekend had been provided under duress.
Similar appeals have come from prominent athletes, sporting bodies and human rights groups, while other senior figures in European politics added their voices on Tuesday.
"The case of tennis star Peng Shuai highlights the [People's Republic of China]´s massive practice of forcefully and randomly disappearing people whenever authorities choose," said Reinhard Buetikofer, a German Member of the European Parliament, and head of the parliamentary delegation on China.
"The United Nations have demanded from China years ago that the practice of 'residential surveillance at a designated location' should be terminated because it violates human rights. In my opinion, by infringing on Peng Shuai's human rights, Chinese authorities add another argument in favour of the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics which the European Parliament has already called for," he added.
Early this month, Peng's verified Weibo account posted that a former senior Chinese government leader had pressured her into sex. The post was swiftly deleted, and any discussion of the case on social media has been shut down.
Citing the Weibo post, the contents of which have not been corroborated, a letter written by Steve Simon, the head of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), seeking assurances about Peng's safety identified the subject of the allegations as Zhang Gaoli, 75, China's former vice-premier who served from 2013 to 2018.
Last week, state-run broadcaster CGTN shared a screenshot of an alleged email by Peng, 35, in which she said claims of sexual assault were not true and said she was not missing but "resting at home".
The release of the email was met with widespread doubts that Peng had written it herself or free of duress, increasing calls for more information about her well-being.
A state media-released video over the weekend purporting to show Peng dining in a restaurant was met with similar suspicions that it had been staged.
On Sunday, Peng gave assurances about her safety in a video meeting with the International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, according to the IOC.
A photo of the 30-minute video call released by the IOC shows a smiling Peng flanked by stuffed animals streamed into a room where Bach is seated.
But again, the video met widespread criticism.
"It's a whole different order of magnitude to see Thomas Bach, in a photograph with a woman - Peng Shuai -under intense pressure, we can reasonably assume from other cases, to walk back her claims of sexual assault rather than doing everything in his organisation's power to call that out and make sure that she is afforded the support and investigation and prosecution that may well be warranted," said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch.
The US government remains similarly unconvinced.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Tuesday acknowledged the release of the footage over the weekend but said that the administration continued to monitor the case closely, and assailed Beijing's "track record of zero tolerance for criticism, and a record of silencing those who would dare to speak out".
Any individual, said Price, should have the right to seek accountability over a report of sexual assault "without fear of reprisal, without fear of intimidation, without fear of harassment."
The episode has converged with already mounting pressure on Beijing over its hosting of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in February and March; the Biden administration has been weighing a diplomatic boycott of the games over China's human rights record.
In a letter to the US Olympics and Paralympics Committee (USOPC) over the weekend, Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Marsha Blackburn urged the committee not to send US athletes to China because of the Peng case.
Peng's situation was "an alarming reminder of Beijing's willingness to silence any opposition," the two wrote, expressing concerns about USOPC's ability to guarantee the welfare of US athletes travelling to China.
Last week, Simon, the WTA chief executive, wrote Qin Gang, China's ambassador to the US, that the association would consider ending events in China if Peng's accusations were not investigated "fully, transparently, and without censorship".
The appeals have so far gone unheeded by Beijing, with official remarks making no indication that an investigation into the allegations is under way.
Moreover, the flurry of state media efforts to show Peng engaged in public life has been directed towards international audiences; the domestic news blackout on her case continues.
Comments made by a foreign ministry spokesman about Peng at a Tuesday briefing were not included in the department's official transcript of the news conference.
