Peng Shuai: WTA says Chinese tennis star’s call with IOC chief is not enough

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai’s video call with the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not address or alleviate the Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) concern about her wellbeing, the WTA said on Monday. The whereabouts of former doubles world number one Peng have been a matter of international concern for nearly three weeks after she alleged that a former senior Chinese government official sexually assaulted her. She appeared at a dinner with friends on Saturday and a children’s tennis tournament in Beijing on Sunday, photos and videos published…

Video of Peng Shuai With Olympic Officials Fuels a Showdown With Tennis

According to the I.O.C. statement, Bach invited Peng to a dinner when he arrives for the Games in Beijing, which would include Terho and Li Lingwei, an I.O.C. member and Chinese Tennis Federation official who also participated in the call. However, the seemingly friendly banter and dinner plans did little to satisfy Steve Simon, the chief executive of the WTA Tour. Simon has been trying to establish independent contact with Peng for more than a week to no avail and has grown increasingly strident in his criticism of the Chinese…

Was Tennis Star Peng Caught up in Xi’s Power Politics?

Photo from NY Post There is more than meets the eye to the affair surrounding the Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, who disappeared after accusing a former top Chinese official of raping her. After a huge international flap, she has reappeared, telling the International Olympic Committee she is safe and sound. Although the affair has garnered worldwide attention, with the World Tennis Association threatening to cancel 10 WTA tournaments in China and lose 25 percent of its revenues, which amount to more than US$1 billion, it may be deeply enmeshed in…

Who, and Where, Is Chinese Tennis Star Peng Shuai?

A simple question has gripped the sports world and drawn the attention of the White House, United Nations and others: Where is Peng Shuai? The Chinese tennis star disappeared from public view for weeks this month after she accused a top Chinese leader of sexual assault, prompting a global chorus of concern for her safety. Then, this weekend, the editor of a Communist Party-controlled newspaper posted video clips that appear to show Ms. Peng eating at a restaurant and attending a tennis event in Beijing. And on Sunday, the International…

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai tells IOC she is ‘safe and well’

The Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai said she was safe and well in a video call on Sunday, the International Olympic Committee has said, amid growing international demands for assurances that she is free and not under threat. In a statement, the IOC said that Peng had spoken to its president, Thomas Bach, for 30 minutes. “She explained that she is safe and well, living at her home in Beijing, but would like to have her privacy respected at this time,” the IOC’s statement said. “That is why she prefers…

How the U.S. Lost Ground to China in the Contest for Clean Energy

WASHINGTON — Tom Perriello saw it coming but could do nothing to stop it. André Kapanga too. Despite urgent emails, phone calls and personal pleas, they watched helplessly as a company backed by the Chinese government took ownership from the Americans of one of the world’s largest cobalt mines. It was 2016, and a deal had been struck by the Arizona-based mining giant Freeport-McMoRan to sell the site, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which now figures prominently in China’s grip on the global cobalt supply. The metal has…