A global clamour is growing, which even the closed ears of Beijing's totalitarian elite have found impossible to shut out. 'Where is Peng Shuai,' the world wants to know. And 'Is Peng Shuai safe?'
For those still unaware, Peng is the Chinese tennis star who disappeared from public view three weeks ago, after using local social media to accuse one of the country's former vice-premiers of committing a serious sexual assault on her.
The fallout from her whistleblowing has been instructive. And chilling.
Much has been said and written by Chinese apologists, partners and investors about the nation's technological and infrastructure advancements. What is also clear, though, is that the Chinese regime has a very different approach to female emancipation and the exigencies of the #MeToo era.
Peng is the Chinese tennis star who disappeared from public view three weeks ago, after using local social media to accuse one of the country's former vice-premiers of committing a serious sexual assault on her
What is also clear, though, is that the Chinese regime has a very different approach to female emancipation and the exigencies of the #MeToo era
The evidence suggests that if a woman were to accuse a male Politburo member of sexual abuse, the party apparatus is unlikely to express concern, nor launch a public investigation. It certainly won't apologise. Or simply just ignore her. The Beijing solution, it seems, is to make the complainant vanish. Then the problem will also go away. All online traces of the kerfuffle will be suppressed or hidden behind the so-called Great Firewall of China — the state's digital censorship arm.
That policy is relatively straightforward and unobtrusive, if the woman concerned is just another face in the crowd; a relative nobody in a population of more than one billion that is used to being pushed around, imprisoned or terminated by those on high.
It is less easy to carry off without wider comment when the accuser happens to be Peng Shuai, a genuine international star — and heroine to millions of Chinese at home and abroad. It is difficult to erase her from current public consciousness, let alone history.
The 35-year-old has won two singles titles, and 23 doubles titles including the 2013 Wimbledon and the 2014 French Open championships. She also reached the singles semi-finals of the U.S. Open, only the third Chinese tennis player in history to get so far in a Grand Slam. Her highest position in the singles ranking was 14.
But she did not attract sustained worldwide attention until the extraordinary events of earlier this month.
Tennis star Peng Shuai accused Zhang Gaoli (right), Former Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, of rape
Peng Shuai, 35, was said to have disappeared when her social media profiles were scrubbed following the accusation
On November 2, Peng posted an incendiary statement on Weibo, the Chinese microblogging site. In it she accused Zhang Gaoli, a member from 2012 to 2018 of the country's most powerful political body, the seven-man Politburo Standing Committee, of sexual assault.
She claimed that for several years she and Zhang had an on-off extramarital affair, which he had wanted to keep secret.
The relationship had ceased as Zhang, now 75, rose through the Communist Party ranks. He had expressed concern to Peng that she might tape their encounters, she said. But around three years ago he had contacted her again. She was invited to play tennis with him and his wife, she claimed.
Peng said she was then sexually assaulted at Zhang's home. 'I never consented that afternoon, crying all the time,' she recalled. It sounded like rape.
Peng wrote that she couldn't provide evidence to underpin her allegation, but was determined to speak out.
'Like an egg hitting a rock, or a moth to the flame, courting self-destruction, I'll tell the truth about you,' she warned Zhang.
The post was deleted by state censors within half an hour and Peng's Weibo account went dark. The Chinese internet was also swiftly 'cleansed' of references to the star; comments about her were disabled and other keywords blocked.
But it was too late. Peng's J'accuse had gone viral.
The next step was perhaps inevitable. Certainly, it was straight out of the Chinese Communist Party's playbook. Peng also disappeared from sight. The state media ignored the story and the Chinese foreign ministry refused to comment. Zhang was also silent on her claims.
Days passed. Fears for her grew. The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) threatened to pull out of tournaments in China altogether.
Chief executive Steve Simon said he had received 'assurances' from the Chinese Tennis Association that Peng was 'safe and not under any physical threat'. But no one from the WTA was able to contact her to confirm that.
Simon made clear that the WTA expected an investigation into Peng's claims. 'This is bigger than the business,' he said. 'Women need to be respected and not censored.'
The furore increased. The hashtag #whereisPengShuai went viral. Tennis icons such as Serena Williams and Martina Navratilova added their voices.
Under the weight of this scrutiny, the tactics of the Chinese authorities changed. Last Wednesday, China's state-run English-language outlet, the China Global Television Network, published a letter on Twitter, which it claimed was sent from Peng to the WTA boss.
It read: 'Regarding the recent news released on the official website of the WTA, the content has not been confirmed or verified by myself and it was released without my consent.
'The news in that release, including the allegation of sexual assault, is not true. I'm not missing, nor I am unsafe. I've just been resting at home and everything is fine. Thank you again for caring about me.'
The screenshot of the letter included a visible cursor in
