China's #MeToo movement: 'Missing' tennis star reveals rot in Beijing's power corridors
Dec 01, 2021
Beijing [China], December 1 : China's tennis star Peng Shuai, sent shockwaves when she accused Zhang Gaoli, a senior Chinese government official, of sexual abuse and she is still missing from then.
The highest-profile case in China's #MeToo movement was kept under tight wraps with the reputation of the officials involved safeguarded at all costs.
Reportedly, she has been missing since then and 35-year-old Shuai posted on Weibo, a social media site, that Gaoli, now 75, coerced her into relations, according to the Hongkong Post.
So, this first-of-its-kind accusation in China has caught global attention as Shuai herself is well known.
Meanwhile, Shaui's disappearance has drawn severe condemnation from various quarters, especially other international tennis stars, including Japanese champion Naomi Osaka, world number one tennis player Novak Djokovic, French player Nicholas Mahu.
Tennis star Serena Williams expressed her concern on Peng Shuai whereabouts.
"I am devastated and shocked to hear about the news of my peer, Peng Shuai. I hope she is safe and found as soon as possible,"
The tennis star's disappearance was discussed in Beijing's power corridor in the runner up the Communist Party's centenary celebration and so during the Sixth Plenum plenary session of its 19th Central Committee
Shuai is declared the world's number one doubles player in 2014 and is the first Chinese player to achieve a top ranking after winning the doubles titles at Wimbledon in 2013 and the French Open in 2014.
Further, the three-time Olympian has represented China at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, London in 2012, and Beijing in 2008.
Human rights group Amnesty International and the International Tennis Federation has mentioned that it supports a probe into Shaui's whereabouts
