Peng Shuai: What we know so far

One of China's top tennis players, Peng Shuai, has accused former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexually assaulting her.

Since she posted the accusations on social media, there has been concern about the tennis star's whereabouts. On Sunday, the International OIympic Committee said it had spoken with Ms Peng but questions about her wellbeing and safety remain.

Here's what we know so far.

Ms Peng, 35, is a prominent figure in Chinese tennis with almost $10m in career prize money. Introduced to the sport by her uncle when she was eight-years-old, Ms Peng made her WTA debut in 2001 and has since gone on to win 25 titles in singles and doubles. She has also competed at three Olympic Games.

In 2014, she became the first Chinese player to become the world number one in doubles. She has won two women's doubles Grand Slams at Wimbledon in 2013 and the 2014 French Open, both alongside Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei.

In 2006 Ms Peng and fellow tennis player Li Na started speaking out about China's tennis programme. Under the system, the state kept a portion of their earnings. Ms Peng decided to become an independent player, away from the Chinese state system and has talked about how she has been able to have more autonomy.

"I am the decision maker and all the choices I have to make allow me to improve myself," she told the Olympic channel in an undated interview.

In all of her interviews, her passion for sport shines through.

"I love tennis. I want to be on the court and fight. I just want to be happy on the court," she said during an interview at the Australian Open in 2018.

Ms Peng has a strong social media presence, with half a million followers on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

In a 1,600 word post on Weibo earlier this month, Ms Peng said former Vice Premier, Zhang Gaoli, had "forced" her to have sexual relations with him.

It is the first time such an allegation has been made against one of China's senior political leaders. Mr Zhang has not responded to her claims.

"I know that someone of your eminence, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, you'll say that you're not afraid", Ms Peng wrote in her post, "but even if it's just striking a stone with a pebble, or a moth attacking a flame and courting self destruction, I will tell the truth about you."

She said he had first coerced her after she visited his home to play tennis. "That afternoon I didn't give my consent and couldn't stop crying," she wrote. "You brought me to your house and forced me and you to have relations".

Ms Peng has acknowledged that she will not be able to provide proof to back up her claims.

"I have no evidence, and it has been impossible to leave any evidence... You were always afraid that I would bring something like a tape recorder, to record evidence or something... There is no audio record, no video record, only my distorted but very real experience."

Mr Zhang has not commented on the allegations.

Mr Zhang, 75, served as vice premier between 2013 and 2018 and had previously was the top party official in Tianjin.

During his time as vice premier, he presided over preparation meetings for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

He was also involved in China's Belt and Road project and visited a number of countries as part of this. He also spoke as Xi Jinping's special envoy at a UN climate conference in 2014.

Mr Zhang also attended major events such as People's Liberation Army celebrations and was pictured in the front row of the audience alongside President Xi Jinping.

Duowei News described Mr Zhang has having a "pragmatic style" and claimed he had "rarely been controversial since becoming an official".

Since retiring from his role, he has stayed out of the spotlight with no coverage in Chinese media or on the government's website.

After sharing her post on Weibo, the tennis player was not heard or seen publicly for several weeks. That was until last week when state media outlet CGTN published on Twitter what it claimed was an email from Ms Peng.

In the email, which CGTN claimed was sent to WTA chief Steve Simon, she purportedly said that the allegations are "not true".

Then several days later three photos of Ms Peng were posted on a WeChat account under her name with the caption "Happy Weekend". But the authenticity of the post has been widely questioned.

She has since reportedly appeared as a guest at a tennis tournament in Beijing. Global Times editor Hu Xijin published the footage on his Twitter account.

On Sunday, the International Olympic Committee released a statement saying it had spoken with Ms Peng and she appeared to be safe and well.

It said that IOC President Thomas Bach spoke with the star who "thanked the IOC for its concern about her wellbeing".

"She explained that she is safe and well, living at her home in Beijing, but would like to have her privacy respected at this time".

Last week, the UN and US called for proof of the tennis star's whereabouts.

On Tuesday, China's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the controversy surrounding Ms Peng had been "maliciously hyped up". It was the most direct response from the Chinese government yet.

Censors in China were quick to take action against Ms Peng's Weibo post. Comments on her timeline were blocked and remain so. While specific search terms such as her name were temporarily blocked.

A number of major tennis players including Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic have spoken out in support of Ms Peng.

The WTA has remained firm throughout the incident, requesting to speak with Ms Peng themselves.

Steve Simon has threatened to pull out the WTA's business from the country, which would have a big effect. There are 10 WTA events scheduled to take place in China next year including the Wuhan Open and WTA finals in Shenzhen. The Wuhan Open next year will be the first time tennis players have returned there since the start of the pandemic.

In a statement on Sunday, it said recent videos of the tennis star "don't alleviate or address the WTA's concern about her wellbeing and ability to communicate without censorship or coercion".

"This video does not change our call for a full, fair and transparent investigation, without censorship, into her allegation of sexual assault, which is the issue that gave rise to our initial concern," it added.

"Peng Shuai's accusation is not only controversial because she points the finger at a tiger: a former top Communist Party ruler, Zhang Gaoli," says Diana Fu, associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto. "It is also threatening because it evidences that no matter how hard to suppress the #metoo movement in China, it does not seem to die."

The status of those accused has gone from a university professor in 2018, to a senior state broadcaster in 2018 and a former vice premier in 2021.

"The persistence of these high-profile accusations represents a palpable threat to Beijing—that of Western values espoused by the trans-national movement that continues to 'infiltrate' China's digital borders. It is not women's rights that the CCP is against; it is the fear of grassroots mobilization by a woke young generation who are willing to pay the price, however high, to be heard. "