Topline
Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai said she never accused anyone of sexually assaulting her in an interview published by French newspaper L’Equipe on Monday, marking the second instance of her retracting an earlier account of sexual coercion by a former Chinese vice premier amid international concerns that the was being pressured to do so by Beijing.
Peng Shuai told French newspaper L’Equipe that she had not accused anyone of sexually assaulting … [+]
Key Facts
Peng told the newspaper that her social media post on Weibo from November—where he appeared to accuse former Chinese vice premier, Zhang Gaoli, of sexual assault—had caused a “huge misunderstanding” and she did not want any “further media hype” about the issue.
Peng also claimed that she herself had deleted the now vanished social media post, because she “wanted to,” without offering any further details.
The tennis star also attempted to ease concerns about her safety, by noting that her life since the November post has been “nothing special” and added that she had not “disappeared” after it.
The interview with L’Équipe took place in a Beijing hotel and the tennis star was accompanied by the Chinese Olympic Committee’s chief of staff who also acted as translator.
The newspaper also noted that to conduct the interview it was had to agree to submitting all questions in advance and publishing Peng’s comments verbatim in a question-and-answer form.
This is a developing story.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/02/07/chinas-peng-shuai-says-she-never-accused-anyone-of-sexual-assault-in-interview-with-french-newspaper/