Journalist who spoke to Peng Shuai says doubts stay

One of the journalists who performed the primary sit-down interview with Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai stated Tuesday that the fastidiously managed dialog didn’t reply questions on whether or not she will be able to converse her thoughts or transfer freely.
A Chinese Olympic official was within the room and translated the dialog with Peng, who disappeared from public view for weeks after she made public allegations {that a} former top-ranked Communist Party pressured her to have intercourse. Her social media put up was deleted rapidly, and Peng was not seen for a pair weeks, then confirmed up solely in picture alternatives organized by Chinese officers. Worries about her led to a world outpouring of fears for her security.
Marc Ventouillac, one among two journalists for French sports activities day by day L’Equipe who spoke to Peng this week in a restrictive interview organized with Chinese Olympic officers, says he’s nonetheless uncertain if she is free.
“It’s impossible to say,” he stated in English, saying the interview doesn’t show that she is secure.
Ventouillac says China’s intent was clear to him: By granting the interview as Beijing is internet hosting the Winter Olympics, Chinese officers hope to place the controversy to relaxation, so it doesn’t overshadow the occasion.
“It’s a part of communication, propaganda, from the Chinese Olympic Committee,” Ventouillac advised The Associated Press on Tuesday, the day after L’Equipe printed its unique.
Ventouillac stated Chinese officers hoped the interview would present “there is no problem with Peng Shuai. See?”
The interview, in addition to a dinner Peng had with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and appearances she made at Olympic venues have shone a deliberate and managed highlight on the three-time Olympian and former top-ranked doubles participant. On Tuesday, Peng sat with Bach and watched American-born Chinese freestyle skier Eileen Gu win gold on the girls’s massive air occasion.
Ostensibly, the intention is to place to relaxation the query that fellow gamers and followers all over the world have been posting on-line: Where is Peng Shuai?
“It’s important, I think, for the Chinese Olympic Committee, for the Communist Party and for many people in China to try to show: ‘No, there is no Peng Shuai affair,’” Ventouillac stated.
The girls’s skilled tennis tour stated the interview “does not alleviate any of our concerns” concerning the allegations she made in November.
“Peng took a bold step in publicly coming forth with the accusation that she was sexually assaulted by a senior Chinese government leader,” Steve Simon, the WTA’s chief govt, stated in a press release. “As we would do with any of our players globally, we have called for a formal investigation into the allegations by the appropriate authorities and an opportunity for the WTA to meet with Peng — privately — to discuss her situation.”
Ventouillac stated Peng “seems to be healthy.”
To safe the interview, organised by way of China’s Olympic Committee with assist from the IOC, L’Equipe agreed to ship questions upfront and publish her responses verbatim, in question-and-answer kind. Originally allotted a half-hour, Ventouillac stated they ended up getting almost double that and requested all of the questions they wished, past the “8 or 10” they pre-submitted.
“There was no censorship in the questions,” he stated.
A Chinese Olympic official sat in on the dialogue, translating Peng’s feedback from Chinese. The newspaper then used an interpreter in Paris to make sure the accuracy of the feedback that it printed in French on Monday. It was her first sit-down dialogue with non-Chinese-language media for the reason that accusation.
“She answered our questions without hesitating — with, I imagine, answers that she knew. She knew what she was going to say,” Ventouillac stated. “But you can’t know whether it was formatted or something. She said what we expected her to say.”
“We started by asking questions about tennis … It helped her relax, unwind,” he stated.
Ventouillac stated she appeared extra nervous and cautious when requested questions concerning the put up and her relationship with the official.
Ventouillac stated one among L’Equipe‘s goals for the interview was to indicate Peng that “she is not alone” and that individuals all over the world are involved for her.
He believes that worldwide assist has helped defend her through the controversy. Someone not so well-known exterior China possible could be in jail for such an allegation in opposition to a senior official, Ventouillac speculated.
In a prolonged put up in November, Peng wrote that Zhang Gaoli, a former vice premier and member of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s omnipotent Politburo Standing Committee, pressured her to have intercourse regardless of repeated refusals. The put up, on her verified account on a number one Chinese social media platform, Weibo, additionally stated that they had intercourse as soon as seven years in the past, and that she developed romantic emotions for him after that. Zhang has not commented on the accusation.
“Originally, I buried all this in my heart,” she wrote. “Why would you even come find me again, take me to your house and force me and you to have sexual relations?”
It was rapidly scrubbed from her account. Peng advised L’Equipe that she erased it however didn’t give her causes past saying: “Because I wanted to.”
She additionally stated the put up has been misunderstood.
“Sexual assault? I never said that anyone made me submit to a sexual assault,” the newspaper quoted her as saying.
“This post resulted in an enormous misunderstanding from the outside world,” she additionally stated. “My wish is that the meaning of this post no longer be skewed.”