Peng Shuai's forced 'U'-turn?

The tennis star Peng Shuai is the symbol of Beijing who reached to International Lawn Tennis. She was ranked world No. 1 doubles player by the WTA, becoming the first Chinese tennis player to achieve that ranking. Peng gave her first interview to Singapore media since she vanished one in which she denied ever accusing anyone of sexual assault. She gave a public appearance after 41 days. Peng said that she had never accused anyone of sexually assaulting her and her social media post was misunderstood by people. Hashtags like #WhereisPengShual, #BoycottBeijing2022, and #metoo have seen widely circulated in social media since her disappearance. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry confirms, Peng Shuai is safe and living her best life in Beijing. Peng Shuai says that there is no state surveillance on her. China is trying to avoid probe after Peng’s denial. In November, Peng accused in social media post that a former Chinese Premier Zhang Gaoli, had sexually assaulted her. As vice-premier, Zhang, 75, served on the party's seven-person Politburo Standing Committee the country's supreme leadership body alongside President Xi Jinping from 2012 to 2017. After Peng’s social media post, she was absent from public view for nearly more than 35 days. Now, Peng has denied allegations. If she is really free and fine then why Beijing is doing censor on her allegations on the internet. So there is no crime and no need for probes.  

But Tennis body WTA has refused to consider a new episode and asked Beijing to go ahead with the probe. Does anyone actually believe Peng Shuai is freely making statements like this? Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has committed to a full, fair, and transparent investigation on her disappearance without censorship. The saga comes just a few months ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, an event which several Western nations have said their diplomats will boycott over China's human rights record.