China has hit back at the Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) decision to suspend all tournaments in the country amid concerns about the safety of Chinese player Peng Shuai.
Peng, a grand slam doubles champion, vanished for two weeks after she accused former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault.
Representatives within China have voiced their opinions on the matter, endeavouring to protect the reputation of the country’s ruling Communist Party.
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In a brief comment to reporters regarding the WTA boycott, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said, “we are firmly opposed to acts politicising sport”.
Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Global Times, an affiliate of China’s state-run media, also took aim at the governing body on social media.
“WTA is coercing Peng Shuai to support the West’s attack on Chinese system,” he tweeted.
“They are depriving Peng Shuai’s freedom of expression, demanding that her description of her current situation must meet their expectation.”
The Global Times additionally released a highly critical editorial piece that claims the WTA’s decision is “rooted in political speculation”.
https://twitter.com/globaltimesnews/status/1466297091865530369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The publication extinguished claims the WTA would experience economic losses by committing to the suspension of tournaments in China.
The statement argued the WTA wouldn’t stand to lose much money as no international sports events have been held in China in the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the tournaments only had a slim chance of being held in the first place.
WTA chairman Steve Simon was also targeted, accused of garnering attention from Western countries for himself and the WTA.
The WTA was presented as a phoney “hero team”, only pretending to be interested in defending “so-called human rights”.
Concern was raised for international sport, with the WTA’s “radicalism” and actions instigating a boycott against the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
“The WTA has acted as a lever of Western public opinion against China’s political system, the editorial said.
“To this end, they repeat the old tricks and once again set the precedent of boycotting sports events for political purposes.
“This creates new uncertainties for international sport.
“The WTA is expanding its influence in a speculative way. They are bringing politics into women’s tennis deeply, and are setting a bad example for the entire sporting world.
“They are opening a Pandora’s box. They are betrayers of the Olympic spirit.”
The editorial accentuated the WTA’s refusal to accept Peng is safe despite China sharing several photos and videos of her. Their actions claiming to be “seriously coercing Peng” and depriving Peng of freedom of expression.
“Their pursuit of ‘political correctness’ is surely top-notch even among Western politicians. To further hype the case, the WTA even disclosed some private information about Peng,” it said.
“It is the WTA which claimed Peng’s assurance that ‘everything is fine’ is not credible, and it has been pushing accusations over and over again that she was acting.
“Such coercion has deprived Peng of freedom of expression, forcing her to complain in accordance with the imagination and expectations of Western public opinion, fabricating that she has lost her freedom.
“Peng is an athlete who is destined to be connected with the West.
“The message the WTA sent to her is that as long as she wants to satisfy the West, she will have to endorse the latter’s accusations against China.”
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