The International Olympic Committee announced in a statement that Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai had a video call with the president of the IOC on Sunday. Peng Shuai informed him in the video call that she was safe and well.
There was a nearly three-week public hiatus following her allegation that a former top Chinese official sexually assaulted her. Then, photos and videos of Peng enjoying a tournament in Beijing earlier on Sunday did little to ease foreign fears.
France’s foreign minister had urged China to provide additional assurances. Thereby citing the Women’s Tennis Association’s stance that the photographs were “insufficient” proof.
“I’m expecting only one thing: that she speaks,” France’s Jean-Yves Le Drian told LCI television. Further adding that if China does not resolve the matter, there could be undefined diplomatic consequences. The US and the UK have also demanded that China give verification of Peng’s whereabouts.
Current and past tennis stars, including Naomi Osaka and Billie Jean King, had joined the appeals for confirmation that she was okay. It was by using the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai? on social media.
Concerns about Peng arose when global human rights organizations and others urged for a boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February. Thereby, citing China’s poor human rights record.