UN And WTA Chief Pressurizes China On Missing of Peng Shuai

After the recent controversy that erupted over the charges of sexual allegations made by Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai against China's former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, China is facing mounting pressure both from the United Nations and the Women's Tennis Association chief Steve Simon into revealing the current whereabouts of Peng Shuai.

The WTA doubted Peng Shuai's emails wherein she has denied reports of sexual assault on her.

Earlier, the UN had called for an investigation after the Chinese tennis star accused the former vice-premier of forcing her into sex at his residence, according to screenshots of a since-deleted social media post dated November 2. She has been missing since.

"What we would say is that it would be important to have proof of her whereabouts and wellbeing, and we would urge that there be an investigation with full transparency into her allegations of sexual assault," the spokesperson of the UN Human Rights office, Liz Throssell, told reporters in Geneva on Friday.

We would stress that it is important to know where she is and know her state, know about her wellbeing," Throssell added.

The WTA Chief emphasized the need to solve this issue as soon as possible. He even went on to say that he is willing to sacrifice the WTA's business deals in China if the Chinese authorities fail to bring about the desired outcome. The WTA could lose hundreds of millions of dollars worth of business in China as a result of this decision.

On Thursday, in an interview with CNN, he said, "We're definitely willing to pull our business and deal with all the complications that come with it. Because this is certainly, this is bigger than the business."

The White House also expressed its deep concern over this incident. "We are deeply concerned by reports that Peng Shuai appears to be missing after accusing a former PRC (Peoples Republic of China) senior official of sexual assaults. We join in the calls for PRC authorities to provide independent and verifiable proof of her whereabouts and that she is safe," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.

The Chinese censors wasted no time in wiping out the post made by Peng Shuai on Weibo, the Chinese alternative to Twitter, deleting it just 30 minutes after its publication. Her Weibo account, which has more than half a million followers, has apparently been blocked by the Chinese Authorities.

Also read: Women's Tennis Association doubts Chinese players' email denying sexual assault allegations

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