Activists made the most of the reversal of an earlier ban
by giving away hundreds of T-shirts bearing the question "Where is Peng
Shuai?" on women's final day at the
Australian Open on Saturday.
The T-shirts, highlighting concerns about the Chinese tennis player, were confiscated by security
last weekend but tournament chief Craig Tiley on Tuesday said that they
would be allowed as long as fans wearing them were not disruptive.
Max Mok, an Australian citizen who was raised in Hong Kong told Reuters:
"Some people say it's a victory that we've achieved that they've
rolled back on the ban. I think it's marginal... we don't really know where
Peng Shuai is still. There's still a long way to go."
Chris Lee, also handing out the T-shirts, said that although Peng has
made appearances in controlled situations since her allegations, he was
still concerned about her welfare:
"It's not okay for us to just sitting here and we do nothing. At least, we have to raise the awareness of the whole society about the human rights issues in China."
Fans were later seen wearing the T-shirts in the crowd on Rod Laver Arena as Ash Barty became the first homegrown singles champion at the Grand Slam since 1978.