Timeline of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai’s #MeToo reckoning for Beijing

By Catherine Thorbecke
20 December 2021

The mysterious public retreat of tennis star Peng Shuai has sparked a #MeToo reckoning that has escaped China’s internet firewall and rocked the international sports community.

Peng, 35, gained international acclaim in the tennis world after winning major titles at Wimbledon in 2013 and the French Open in 2014. She was formerly ranked No. 1 globally in women’s doubles.

Last month, she accused a retired top Chinese Communist Party official of sexual assault and then seemingly disappeared from social media. As international concern for her mounted, she reappeared via correspondence released by Chinese state-run news outlets that backtracked her sexual assault claims — which only prompted further global skepticism about her safety and whereabouts.

Here is a timeline of the saga that has spurred global backlash against China’s handling of high-profile sexual assault claims, and put the nation’s internet and media censorship policies under renewed international criticism just weeks ahead of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games.

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