Peng Shuai retracts sexual assault claims as fears over her wellbeing persist
theguardian.com
theguardian.com
She then seems to have vanished and then various clumsily handled "sightings" were obviously orchestrated. Then we have this "retraction" nonsense. It's all a bit clumsy. There is absolutely no point in even trying to cover up a cover up like this. I can only conclude it is to provide some form of coverage for domestic use.
Whatever the relative merits of Peng's accusation, her subsequent treatment is not the act of a nation governed even vaguely equitably. There is no attempt to demonstrate some form of judicial process, whereby an accusation is investigated in some way. The accuser simply disappeared and then surfaces periodically and I suspect that it is only the fact that she is an important sports person that this ridiculous process is being carried out.
Depending on how charitable you are feeling, the handling of Peng's "story" by the local authorities is either breathtakingly naive or callously dismissive.
(Edit: spelling)
The canonical quote must be "Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
It gives enough deniability for companies and countries that do business with China and don’t actually care about how China treats its citizens, but can’t just say they don’t care, to go about business as normal.
China's clumsy manufactured responses obviously would have been good enough for the west in the past when "the deciders" were always in charge.
The problem is now with social media the issue has got away from the ruling class somewhat so it's taking some time to reign in these various celebrities and athletes and other influencers who have gone off-script and are perpetuating the problem for them (contrast this with the recent polished and professional responses from the NBA and their comfy relationship with genocide and slavery, with the complicity of the corporate media to sweep that little problem under the carpet -- no doubt the WTA are green with envy that their response has not been so good, it may not be a coincidence that Yao Ming has shown up here).
I mean the ruling class does not care about people over money. Not here, and not in China. Compare it to the many far more problematic things that happen everywhere, from Afghanistan to Assange to Xinjiang to Qatar. Certainly not one woman's sexual assault. Tara Reade got essentially the same treatment.
I have no doubt western corporations and governments and news/propaganda companies will continue to work together with the CCP with the usual back scratching and favors changing hands until the messaging is right and we can put this whole thing behind us.
This would be in a context of you having made a matter-of-fact accusation of sexual abuse of one of the 10 most powerful people in the country, that you recant only 5 weeks later as if it was some kind of metaphor that was misinterpreted.
You'd think in such a situation, you'd at least be prone to say, at most within a few days, to call a few media outlets to indeed show the world that you haven't been kidnapped but are instead just chilling at home. Not only every media outlet around the world was talking about this for weeks, but also Amnesty International, the Olympic Committee, the International Tennis Federation, the European Union, the president of the United States, the nr 1 world tennis player etc etc, are all commenting on your disappearance by the state...
Quite a weak attempt at propaganda.
Home arrest, more likely...
That's an interesting way to solve the problem with China's 996 work culture: "I am tired, I need a vacation, I think I should speak against the government to get some rest then."
More than a retraction, this is chillingly Orwellian forgetting of recent history (undoubtedly forced)
They tried to make it look like the reporter just happened to bump into her, but this is clearly set up by her "handlers."
It seems entirely likely, if not probable, that any retraction of her early statements is coerced.
Let me get this story straight: So someone hacked her account to write Peng Shuai + Zhang Gaoli "50 Shades of Gray" fan fiction? Was she hacked, or was she misunderstood? Make up your mind, China!
According to The Guardian, "She confirmed that the Chinese version of the email to Simon was written by her, but said the one published by CGTN [...] was a translation because her level of English was not sufficient.". Then how she conducted the interview with IOC if her English is "bad"?
Example outtake from the translation: "You played with me, and dumped me when you are done with me."
Source: https://old.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/qmn69a/full_transla...
"为何还要回来找我，带我去你家逼我和你发生关系？" was translated to "why did you come back for me, and brought me to your home to have sex?"
The translator literally dropped the word "逼我" (force me). So this translation defenitely cannot be trusted.
Are there any Chinese speakers who can chime in?
[0]: https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/qmn69a/full_transla...
On the other hand, if she didn't make that specific accusation, then what she just said made sense. She didn't retract anything. She stands behind what she said in that Weibo post, just not the "sexual assault" part interpreted by the western media.
An incredibly high powered state official love bombing a young woman who had explicitly said no to sex until she relents sounds like sexual abuse to me!
In the case of Peng Shaui she did say that she felt forced into it when he took her to his house (带我去你家逼我和你发生关系). She said she initially didn't agree, and cried about it (我原本没有同意一直哭). After dinner he tried again, she said she refused again, and his response was to tell her that he hated her (我也并不愿意，你说恨我). Finally, scared and panicked (又怕又慌带), she agreed to have sex. This is at least emotional abuse. Perhaps eventually she "consented", but this should have stopped the first time she said no.
Regardless of whether you classify this as sexual assualt or "merely" sexual and/or emotional abuse, Zhang Gaoli was obviously using his position and power to pressure her into something she didn't want to do. The fact that they had a fling in the past and she still held complicated feelings for him at the encounter after his retirement doesn't change the fact that what he did was wrong. And many would argue that him even getting into the original relationship was wrong as well - an abuse of his privilege as a high-level government official, taking advantage of a much younger athlete who (as she admits) was lonely and desperate for someone to love her.
"为何还要回来找我，带我去你家逼我和你发生关系？": Why did you come back to me and take me to your home to force me to have sex with you?
"那天下午我原本没有同意一直哭": That afternoon I didn't agree (to have sex with you) and I kept crying.
"晚饭后我也并不愿意": I still did not agree (to have sex with you) after dinner.
Simple summary of what happened: They played tennis in the morning, and then he took her to his home (a highly guarded residency of the top CCP official). Because of the nature of the physical location, she actually can't leave without his assistance. She refused to have sex with him during the afternoon and the evening (but she can't leave by just walking out or call a taxi). Eventually they had sex. Also, his wife was at home and helped him to make the sex happen.
Do you believe she had a choice?
Of course given the radio silence, his political power, and being 25 to his 65 at the time... that seems less likely.
The ability to speak truth is when you don't allow yourself to be shouted down.
The next century of competition is looking incredibly interesting.
America made incredible leaps forward in WWII and the Cold War in the face of stiff competition. When our rivals disappeared, we only made incremental improvements in the decades that followed. We wasted our attention on distractions.
Now we're once again facing a challenging and ideologically opposed rival that will force us to focus more than ever before.
Let's hope that freedom and democracy endure.