'People have many misunderstandings' China tennis star Peng Shuai denies making accusation of sexual assault

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai said on Sunday (December 19) that she had never accused anyone of sexually assaulting her, and that a social media post she had made early last month had been misunderstood.

Peng's well-being became a matter of concern among the global tennis community and rights groups when she appeared to allege that a former Chinese vice premier, Zhang Gaoli, had sexually assaulted her in the past. After that post, she was absent from public view for nearly three weeks.

"First, I need to stress one point that is extremely important, I have never said or written that anyone has sexually assaulted me, I have to clearly stress this point," Peng said in the video posted by Lianhe Zaobao, a Singapore media outlet.

Who is Peng Shuai and what is the controversy around her

Peng's remarks on Sunday marked the first time she had addressed the matter on camera in public. She spoke on the sidelines of a cross-country skiing event in Shanghai.

She said that her post on Weibo, a Twitter-like social media site, which had been quickly removed, was a "private matter." Peng, 35, said in the video that "people have many misunderstandings" about her Weibo post.

A complete English translation of Peng Shuai’s deleted post. We owe it to her to read her full story in her own words #WhereIsPengShuai pic.twitter.com/yGNkd07j6a

— delusional raducanu stan (@RaducanuIN) November 16, 2021

She did not elaborate. She also said she had been living at home in Beijing without supervision. In the video, she was not asked about Zhang and did not mention him.