In a November 2 post on social media, Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai accused former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli of sexually assaulting her on at least one occasion. The post was promptly taken down, all mention of Ms. Shuai was taken off Chinese social media, and she went incommunicado. Pro tennis players around the world started wondering where she was and how she was doing. And unlike the NBA, which folded like a cheap tent when a Houston Rockets general manager supported Hong Kong in a tweet, they didn’t back down.
China normally doesn’t respond to these kinds of complaints. Ask the Uighurs. For that matter, ask the Dali Lama. But with the Winter Olympics coming up in February and tennis stars continuing to ask where Ms. Shuai was (before China tried to ban tennis players, the Women’s Tennis Association said it would pull out of China), China gave in – at least partially.
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