Peng Shuai, a top Chinese tennis star has publicly accused former Chinese vice premier, Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault.
She made the allegations in a post on Tuesday night on her verified Weibo account (China's version of Twitter) where she described how she was assaulted in 2018 by Zhang who coerced her into having sex with him.
According to Peng, an on and off relationship then began between the 35-year-old and the former Politburo Standing Committee member which according to the social media post (below) ended a few days ago with the post saying they had a row in an affair which she detailed began a decade ago.
She said that Zhang was afraid that she was recording their conversations but according to Peng, she never collected evidence of this affair.
These posts were swiftly removed though due to violating Weibo's community rules but in a further attempt to seemingly censor the allegations, searches of her name and even the word tennis were blocked.
Zhang himself was party boss of the port city of Tianjin for five years before a stint on the Politburo Standing Committee , while for Peng, she has won 23 doubles and two singles tournaments in her WTA career.
This includes two Grand Slam doubles wins at the French Open and Wimbledon.
She was ranked as high as 14th back in 2011 reaching the US Open semi-finals in 2014 but has not played on tour since prior to the pandemic in 2020 where she reached the semi-finals in Doha.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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