One month ago, Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai made a lengthy statement on Weibo (a Chinese social media platform) in which she accused a high-ranking Chinese government official named Zhang Gaoli of rape, abuse and harassment. The Chinese government removed her statement within minutes, and proceeded to wipe Shuai’s social media presence from Weibo. China is even censoring Shuai’s name and certain messages associated with tennis on Weibo. At some point, Shuai was… um, put in a situation where she could not communicate with anyone, where no one knows where she is, and where her friends cannot find her. Her family is reportedly missing as well.
In the days and weeks that followed Shuai’s Weibo statement and disappearance, players with the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and Association of Tennis Players (ATP) made big public statements in support of her. WTA president Steve Simon repeatedly went on CNN and blanketed the media with a message to China: free Peng Shuai, let us know where she is, give her access to phones and email and investigate her #MeToo story. China did not comply. Instead, they proceeded to carefully parade Shuai out in a series of carefully choreographed and highly controlled photo-ops. She even “spoke” via video-conference to Thomas Bach, head of the International Olympic Committee. IOC member Dick Pound has been doing China’s bidding for weeks, claiming there is nothing to see here with the Peng Shuai situation, and claiming that she’s just fine. Steve Simon remained unconvinced. And on December 1st, he formalized his displeasure, the displeasure of the WTA community. Simon has now pulled women’s tennis out of China completely:
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) chairman and CEO Steve Simon has announced an immediate suspension of all WTA tournaments in China, including Hong Kong.
In a statement released Wednesday, Simon said the decision was based on the lack of transparency by Chinese officials following tennis player Peng Shuai’s allegation of sexual assault against a top Chinese government official.
“In good conscience, I don’t see how I can ask our athletes to compete there when Peng Shuai is not allowed to communicate freely and has seemingly been pressured to contradict her allegation of sexual assault,” Simon said. “Given the current state of affairs, I am also greatly concerned about the risks that all of our players and staff could face if we were to hold events in China in 2022.”
Simon said the WTA recognized when Peng released her statement in November that her “message had to be listened to and taken seriously. The players of the WTA, not to mention women around the world, deserve nothing less.”
“From that moment forward, Peng Shuai demonstrated the importance of speaking out, particularly when it comes to sexual assault, and especially when powerful people are involved,” Simon said. “As Peng said in her post, ‘even if it is like an egg hitting a rock, or if I am like a moth drawn to the flame, inviting self-destruction, I will tell the truth about you.’ She knew the dangers she would face, yet she went public anyway. I admire her strength and courage.”
In the statement, Simon goes on to explain he has “serious doubts that she is free, safe, and not subject to censorship, coercion, and intimidation. The WTA has been clear on what is needed here, and we repeat our call for a full and transparent investigation — without censorship — into Peng Shuai’s sexual assault accusation. None of this is acceptable nor can it become acceptable. If powerful people can suppress the voices of women and sweep allegations of sexual assault under the rug, then the basis on which the WTA was founded — equality for women — would suffer an immense setback. I will not and cannot let that happen to the WTA and its players.”
[From CNN]
I’ll admit, I have tears in my eyes. It’s phenomenal to see Steve Simon stand up for a vulnerable survivor of rape, a survivor who is still being confined, detained, suppressed, silenced and oppressed by her government. It’s phenomenal to see a women’s organization in SPORTS show more guts than any government and any business. WTA players are backing Steve Simon and using this announcement to continue to agitate for Shuai’s release. ATP players are also backing the WTA’s decision, and several of them are already arguing that the men’s tour should follow suit and pull the ATP tournaments out of Beijing and Shanghai.
Beyond the huge moral stand being taken, there are some financial and tennis-tour repercussions. The WTA removing itself from China means less money for the players, as the Asian swing in the fall had millions of dollars in prize money. But on the other hand, China is not the only Asian country, and this might be an interesting moment for Korea, Japan, India, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand to go big and bet big on women’s tennis. This year, the tour also moved the WTA Finals (for the top eight players) out of China and into Guadalajara, Mexico and it was a MASSIVE success. Mexican tennis fans were so supportive of the ladies, so much so that the WTA should consider going back to having a swing of tournaments in Latin America.
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Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red.
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