The UN yesterday said it wants proof of the whereabouts of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai (彭帥), missing ever since she made sexual assault allegations against a former Chinese vice premier.
The UN Human Rights Office called for a fully transparent investigation into the former Grand Slam doubles champion’s claims against Chinese vice premier Zhang Gaoli (張高麗), while the head of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said he is prepared to cut lucrative business ties with China if Peng remains unaccounted for and her allegations are not investigated.
“It would be important to have proof of her whereabouts and well-being and we would urge that there be an investigation with full transparency into her allegations of sexual assault,” Liz Throssell, a spokeswoman for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland.
Photo: AP
Peng, 35, who won the Wimbledon and the French Open women’s doubles titles with Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇), alleged on Sina Weibo on Nov. 2 that Zhang had “forced” her into sex during a long-term, on-off relationship.
The claims were quickly scrubbed from the platform and she has not been seen since, drawing mounting concern over her well-being.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) yesterday stuck to the government’s line that it was not aware of the controversy surrounding Peng.
Zhao again said it was “not a diplomatic question and I’m not aware of the situation.”
The ministry has consistently disavowed knowledge of the issue since Peng made her accusation more than two weeks ago.
WTA chairman Steve Simon on Thursday told CNN that he is willing to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in Chinese business in one of the organization’s biggest markets to ensure Peng’s safety.
“We’re definitely willing to pull our business and deal with all the complications that come with it,” Simon said.
“Women need to be respected and not censored,” he added.
Meanwhile, Serena Williams on Thursday joined Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic in drawing attention to the case.
“I am devastated and shocked to hear about the news of my peer, Peng Shuai,” former world No. 1 Williams wrote on Twitter.
“I hope she is safe and found as soon as possible. This must be investigated and we must not stay silent,” she said.
Williams’ tweet was accompanied by a photograph of a smiling Peng captioned with #WhereIsPengShuai.
Peng also competed in three Olympics, making her disappearance all the more prominent with Beijing set to host the Winter Games starting on Feb. 4
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) declined to comment yesterday, saying in an e-mailed statement: “Experience shows that quiet diplomacy offers the best opportunity to find a solution for questions of such nature. This explains why the IOC will not comment any further at this stage.”
Additional reporting by AP
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS