As Olympics Near, China Tightens Rules and Athletes Invent Their Own

The exemption, however, comes with a stringent requirement that foreigners not leave a “closed loop” of hotels and sports venues, linked by special buses and trains. “We must never go outside the closed loop, let alone reach the city level — this is our bottom line,” said Huang Chun, deputy director of the Olympic organizing committee’s Office of Epidemic Prevention and Control. For those outside China, getting to the Olympics in the first place remained the most urgent goal. Many are now taking proactive measures to keep the virus at…

U.S. Olympic Leader: Peng Shuai’s Sexual Assault Charge Must Be Investigated

With seven weeks to go before the start of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, leaders of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee criticized China’s handling of the recent allegations of sexual assault from one of its star athletes. China’s treatment of the three-time Olympian Peng Shuai, one of China’s top tennis players, has become a contentious issue since Nov. 2, when Peng accused a former top government official of sexually assaulting her. Little has been heard from her since. “I think this is a sad situation,” Susanne Lyons, chair…

What Major Sports Are Still in China Amid Peng Shuai Scandal?

The WTA has suspended its future tournaments in China and Hong Kong, as questions linger over Peng Shuai, the tennis pro who initially disappeared after she accused a Communist Party leader of sexual assault in social media posts. Peng resurfaced last month in appearances with Chinese officials, but it was unclear how freely she was able to speak. “While we now know where Peng is, I have serious doubts that she is free, safe and not subject to censorship, coercion and intimidation,” Steve Simon, the chief executive of the WTA,…

China hits back at WTA as IOC says it has spoken again to Peng Shuai

China has attacked the Women’s Tennis Association’s boycott in response to the treatment of Peng Shuai, as two other major international tennis associations steered clear of the subject of future events in a market worth billions of dollars. Wang Wenbin, a foreign ministry spokesperson, said at a daily briefing that his government was “always firmly opposed to acts that politicise sports”. The WTA said on Wednesday it was suspending all tournaments in China in response to continued questions over Peng’s condition. Its chair, Steve Simon, said he did not see…

‘Where is **?’: Fans in China Elude Censors to Talk About Peng Shuai

Julien Chen was getting ready for bed when he learned that one of his favorite Chinese tennis players, Peng Shuai, had made #MeToo allegations against a powerful Chinese official. A friend told him to check Ms. Peng’s social media account. “There’s a ‘huge melon’ in the tennis circle,” the friend wrote, using the Chinese metaphor for a bombshell. Mr. Chen couldn’t find anything. He searched the word “tennis,” but Ms. Peng — one of China’s most famous athletes — appeared in barely any results. With stunning efficiency, China’s censors had…

Thomas Bach Is Criticized for His Handling of the Peng Shuai Case

“What the I.O.C. established is that quiet and discreet diplomacy gets you better than clashing cymbals,” Pound said. “That’s not the way you deal with any country, certainly not with China.” It is unclear how Bach managed to engineer a call with Peng when the WTA Tour and others had been unsuccessful, though the presence on the call of an I.O.C. member from China, Li Lingwei, offered a tantalizing clue. “The I.O.C. has vaulted itself from silence about Beijing’s abysmal human rights record to active collaboration with Chinese authorities in…

Do Sports Still Need China?

Ultimately, the affair showed how even the most conscientious organizations could find their plans undermined by Chinese politics, how any business could unwillingly become a vessel for an international spat. “If you’re angering both sides, it means there is no middle ground, which I think was significant,” said Dreyer, the Beijing-based sports analyst. Like other observers, Dreyer suggested the WTA’s stance was potentially game-changing. But he noted, too, that it was possibly easier for the WTA to defy China than it had been for, say, the N.B.A., for two reasons.…

The Question the I.O.C. Is Too Weak to Ask

Where is Peng Shuai? That’s the question the International Olympic Committee and its president, Thomas Bach, should be shouting right now — loud, demanding, and aimed squarely at the leadership in China, set to host the Beijing Games in February. But instead of firm demands, we’re hearing not much more than faint, servile whispers from Olympic leadership. Peng, 35, a Chinese tennis star and three-time Olympian, has been missing since Nov. 2, when she used social media to accuse Zhang Gaoli, 75, a former vice premier of China, of sexually…

China Will Create ‘Closed-Loop’ Bubble for Winter Olympics

The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday released a preliminary set of health protocols for the upcoming Winter Games in Beijing that suggested that the next Olympics, set to start on Feb. 4, could be the most extraordinarily restricted large-scale sporting event since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games will take place in what organizers called a “closed-loop management system,” a bubblelike environment in which athletes, officials, broadcasters, journalists and a large Games work force will be forced to eat, sleep, work and compete, without…