I didn't accuse anyone of sexual assault, Peng Shuai tells Zaobao
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BEIJING • Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai yesterday denied ever having accused anyone of sexually assaulting her, adding that an e-mail she had sent to the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) president seeking to assure him of her well-being was done "entirely of my own free will".
This is the first time Ms Peng has directly addressed the matter in person since she disappeared from public view early last month after a post that claimed former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli had sexually assaulted her appeared on her verified Weibo account.
In a brief interview with Lianhe Zaobao on the sidelines of the International Ski Federation's cross-country skiing competition in Shanghai yesterday, Ms Peng said she had been residing in her home in Beijing all this time, and that her movements had not been restricted in any way.
Asked about the allegations made on Weibo - which were scrubbed by Chinese Internet censors within minutes - she said: "First, I would like to stress a very important point: I have never said nor written anything accusing anyone of sexually assaulting me. I would like to emphasise this point very clearly."
Ms Peng was dressed in a red T-shirt, black trousers, white sneakers and a dark down jacket with "China" emblazoned on the back, according to the Zaobao report.
Asked if she was under surveillance following the matter, she replied after a brief hesitation: "Why would that be the case? I have always been very free."
Ms Peng also said that an e-mail she had sent to WTA head Steve Simon last month seeking to assure him that she was neither missing nor in danger was legitimate.
She had penned the Chinese version of the e-mail "entirely of my own free will", she said, but that state media CGTN had published a translated version of it in English as her own standard of the English language was not up to par.
"What was conveyed (by CGTN) was no different from what I meant to convey to Mr Simon," she added.
Earlier in the day, a Global Times reporter, Ms Chen Qingqing, had tweeted footage of Ms Peng appearing to speak with Chinese basketball icon Yao Ming.
Ms Chen said the video was sent to her by a "friend" and that it was taken at an event to promote cross-country skiing in Shanghai, Agence France-Presse reported.
