The disappearance of the Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai has dominated international news in recent days, but inside China there is barely a whisper.
Peng – the former doubles World No 1 – has not been heard from in more than two weeks, since she posted a lengthy statement to Weibo accusing the country’s former vice-premier, Zhang Gaoli, of sexually assaulting her.
In the 2 November post, Peng said she and Zhang, now 75, had for several years had an on-off extramarital “relationship”. Peng said Zhang had stopped contacting her after he rose in the ranks of the Communist party, but then about three years ago invited her to play tennis with him and his wife and then sexually assaulted her in his house.
The post disappeared in less than half an hour, comments were disabled on her account, references to her removed from China’s internet, and even the most innocuously related keywords such as “tennis” were censored on social media.
The Guardian found some references in private WeChat circles, including tennis-themed illustrations, some with the words “I hope she is safe” and others containing QR codes linking to Padlet, a digital noticeboard board, for people to post their own messages.
“You are brave Peng Shui. I hope you’re safe and sound and thank you for raising your voice and sharing your story,” said one.
Other posts showed photos of tennis balls with Chinese characters written on them that spelt out “Peng Shuai, hang in there”.
Attempts to access the board inside China without a VPN returned an error message and said the site contained illegal content, which had been reported.
Without concerted effort, some risk and a good VPN, learning about Peng’s case in China is largely impossible. The government will say nothing, and state media has reported nothing. Chinese access to foreign media is strictly controlled: CNN said on Friday its local feed was cut every time they mentioned the case. The Guardian is among numerous foreign outlets that are blocked entirely.
The only formal mention by Chinese media has been an apparently ham-fisted attempt by the state-run English language broadcaster, CGTN. On Wednesday it published on Twitter a screenshot of text it claimed was an email Peng sent to the head of the WTA, Steve Simon, saying she was fine and withdrawing her allegations.
The purported email was quickly dismissed: the screenshot had no dateline, subject field or addresses, and contained a visible cursor. It was not published in Chinese or anywhere in China, despite the obvious interest and concern among those who saw her viral post before it was deleted.
The idea that CGTN might have badly concocted a fake email was seen as somewhat laughable but also chilling. Observers noted the language in the text was similar to previous forced confessions and statements by dissidents in the past – many of which were broadcast by CGTN. Peng’s “email” was in stark contrast to her original post.
“While one rings hollow, the other has a resounding ring of authenticity,” wrote Fergus Ryan for the Strategist blog published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
Peng is not a dissident. The 35-year-old is one of China’s most recognisable sporting stars who has been lauded by the government. Now, she is also the latest and most high-profile #MeToo case in a country where the movement has struggled to gain traction in the face of strict censorship, an opaque justice system, and social and political hostility.
No public accusation has been levelled against a senior official of the Chinese Communist party before, let alone one as high-ranking as Zhang was, having sat on the CCP’s highest ruling body, the seven-member politburo standing committee.
In a sign of just how sensitive the subject is, Hu Xijin, the firebrand editor of the state media tabloid, the Global Times, tweeted in English that he believed nothing had happened to Peng but seemed unable to mention her allegations, instead referring to it as “the thing people talked about”. He made no statement on his Chinese accounts.
As the furore continues to build outside China over Peng’s welfare and whereabouts, with the Women’s Tennis Association and other organisations demanding an investigation, and a growing list of tennis and sporting stars calling for answers, inside the country it is like nothing has happened.
