China criticises ‘malicious hype’ of Peng concern

China yesterday branded mounting fears over the safety of Peng Shuai as “maliciously hyped up”, accusing its critics of trying to politicise the saga.

The country’s foreign ministry cited Peng’s recent video call with Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, as proof she was alive and well, despite a major diplomatic row over its response to the tennis player’s claim that she was sexually assaulted by its former vice-premier.

Peng, the former Wimbledon doubles champion, disappeared from the public eye for almost three weeks after posting a 1,600-word statement on Chinese social media platform Weibo in which she claimed that Zhang Gaoli had “forced” her to have sexual relations with him.

In its most direct response to the issue yet, China’s foreign ministry said yesterday that it was “not a diplomatic matter”.

“I believe you have all seen that she recently attended some public events and had a video call [with Bach],” spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters.

“I think some people should stop deliberately and maliciously hyping up, let alone politicising this issue.”

China, the hosts of next year’s Winter Olympics, spoke out after Human Rights Watch accused the IOC of being a puppet of the state, following Bach’s 30-minute video call with three-time Olympian Peng, in which no mention was made of her allegations against Zhang.

“The IOC has vaulted itself from silence about Beijing’s abysmal human rights record to active collaboration with Chinese authorities in undermining freedom of speech and disregarding alleged sexual assault,” Yaqiu Wang, HRW’S senior China researcher, said on Monday night. “The IOC appears to prize its relationship with a major human rights violator over the rights and safety of Olympic athletes.”

HRW also accused the Chinese authorities of continuing to impose a media and internet blackout of discussions of Peng’s case, including by censoring her surname and mentions of the sport of tennis.

Lord Coe, the president of World Athletics, had earlier argued any form of Beijing Winter Olympics boycott over the Peng case would be “a meaningless gesture”.

Coe spoke out after Bach’s call with Peng had been greeted with widespread scepticism amid rising pressure for sporting bodies and governments to ditch their “quiet diplomacy” methods and not send senior figures to the Beijing Games, which start on Feb 4.