Last weekend, as Novak Djokovic plotted an escape route from his Melbourne ‘prison’ to Rod Laver Arena, a cartoon appeared on social media. It depicted another tennis star confined to her cell where, from the TV, a message blared: ‘Strong mobilisation around Novak Djokovic, stranded in a hotel.’
Over the following days, his fight to play at the Australian Open transfixed the world.
All the while, Peng Shuai remained locked in the shadows. She won’t compete in Melbourne, either.
Mystery remains about the whereabouts of former Grand Slam champion Peng Shuai
Last weekend marked 67 days since the Chinese player accused Zhang Gaoli - the country’s former vice-premier - of sexual assault. In that time, Peng has all-but disappeared - seen and heard only via a few stage-managed public appearances.
Last weekend also happened to mark her 36th birthday. And yet, as tennis descends Down Under for its first major of 2022, the spotlight has shifted elsewhere. Just as Beijing wanted.
So what now for Peng? After a flurry of embarrassment and condemnation, has China succeeded in silencing the former Grand Slam champion? And as will we ever know what fate really befell her?
Earlier this month, Alize Cornet brought lingering questions back to the surface.
‘I'm still a little bit worried about (Peng),’ the French player said. ‘I don't know where is the truth and where are the lies.’
Cornet was among the first to seek answers with the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai.
Soon, Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams and the whole sporting world were asking the same.
The Chinese star has been seen and heard only via a few stage-managed public appearances
Soon, the WTA took the extraordinary decision to boycott China until clarity arrived.
And yet, as Cornet recently conceded: ‘I'm not sure that it (changed) something.’
Instead, mystery remains over Peng’s plight. What we know is that on November 2, the three-time Olympian posted a lengthy message on Weibo – a Chinese social media platform – accusing Gaoli of sexual assault. It was an incendiary claim against a retired chief of the ruling Communist Party, made by one of the country’s most well-known sports stars.
Within half an hour, however, it had been removed and the state went on the offensive.
Powerless to prevent the post being leaked to the world, China sought to shut it down at home. Their plan worked.
‘The average Chinese person knows absolutely nothing about it,’ explains Mark Dreyer, the Beijing-based founder of China Sports Insider. ‘Generally it was completely scrubbed.’ On social networks and among traditional media.
‘As soon as something becomes sensitive, the media know they’re going to get in trouble if they talk about it. So they just don’t.’
It is possible to ‘climb over the wall’ of suppression, says Dr Susan Brownell, an internationally-recognised expert on Chinese sport.
But unfiltered access to foreign media requires work and know-how.
So most people’s lens to the outside world is refracted by algorithms, artificial intelligence and manpower. ‘The censorship is incredibly effective,’ Dreyer says.
According to analysis by the New York Times and ProPublica, the Chinese state dug into a ‘tested playbook’ to wipe this scandal from national conversation. Tactics honed during other storms, such as the early days of coronavirus.
Posts referencing Peng’s claims were deleted; discussions around topics including ‘tennis’ were narrowed; hundreds of keywords were banned.
Peng accused Zhang Gaoli - the country’s former vice-premier - of sexual assault in November
Some suppression tools are believed to dupe users by allowing them to see posts, unaware that they have been hidden from everyone else. ‘Don’t underestimate just quite how efficient and widespread the censorship is,’ Dreyer adds.
For a while, Peng herself vanished
