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"Next Stop China": WTA will end boycott despite continued silence on Peng Shuai controversy
WTASaturday, 16 September 2023 at 18:55
The WTA boycott of China will come to an end despite Peng Shuai's condition remaining unknown.
Chinese tennis player Peng has not been seen or heard from since the end of 2021 after she accused Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault in a post shared on social media platform Weibo.
The post was swiftly deleted but screenshots spread around the world, while Peng has only appeared on state media, by e-mail or in interviews where she has denied making any such allegations.
On 12 November, the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai started circulating online and on November 14, 2021, WTA chief executive Steve Simon called on Chinese authorities to investigate the allegations Peng had made.
Although the Chinese Tennis Association responded by saying that she was safe and not in danger from any physical threat, Simon revealed that no one from the WTA had been able to get in contact with her.
WTA end boycott of Chinese tournaments after four years
At the time of the incident, tournaments in China were already on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the controversy around Peng's safety and whereabouts led to a full-scale boycott. The WTA said that they would not return before someone from the Tour had met with Peng to confirm her condition and her allegations had been investigated - neither of which has happened.
However, this is now set to come to an end in the next six weeks as seven tournaments will be held in the country as part of the Asian swing. The WTA now claims that they have received assurances from those close to Peng that she is safe. Simon also said that they came to the decision to return to China after discussion with players across the world.
"We’ve got players from over 80 countries, so there’s no shortage of different views of the world and positions on issues and topics we have.
"Through reach-out to us, as well as our reaching out to athletes to find out their positions, the great majority of the athletes were supportive and wanted to see a return back to the region and felt it was time to go back. ... There’s certainly some that didn’t agree but the great majority did," he said.
However, some players such as World No. 99 Cornet have revealed that they will not return to the country despite the official boycott ending.
"Staying true to my convictions and careful about my health, I decided I will not be playing in China this year," Cornet said.
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