Former NBA star Yao Ming details recent encounter with Peng Shuai

Retired NBA superstar Yao Ming said he and others had a pleasant talk with Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai when they met last month, weeks after Shuai's disappearance raised international concern.

Peng had accused a retired Chinese Vice Premier of sexual assault, after which she was not seen or heard from for a few weeks. Upon her reappearance, the two-time doubles Grand Slam champion denied making those allegations to a Singapore newspaper on the same day photos of her with Yao and two former Olympians were posted on social media. The photos appeared to be part of a campaign to respond to international demands that Peng be allowed to talk freely about her situation.

Yao said that he has known Peng for about 20 years. The four Chinese sports figures were photographed on an observation deck from where they watched a winter sports exhibition.

“We had a pleasant chat,” he said. "We asked many questions about the game as we were not familiar with snow sports.”

At one point, it was unclear if he said Peng was OK. Some, including the translator for the news conference, heard her say “she was fine that day," but others thought Yao said “we were all fine that day.”

The International Olympic Committee, which has been pressured to move the Games from China because of human rights concerns, came under further fire after IOC President Thomas Bach held a video call with Peng. An IOC statement said that she assured Bach and others that she was well.