- An unsatisfactory conclusion to the drama of Peng Shuai
- China continues to invest heavily abroad
- IfW: Emerging economies face excessive debt
- US losing patience over trade commitment
- Slovenia clashes over Huawei
- UK gets Chinese nuclear power plant
- Profile: Uyghur torchbearer Dinigeer Yilamujiang
In the shadows of the Olympic Games, IOC President Thomas Bach has met with Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai. Only on Monday, it was revealed that they had already met on Saturday evening. The International Olympic Committee has made no mention of the alleged sexual assault on Peng by Zhang Gaoli, a former high-ranking Chinese official.
The fact that Peng was unable to contact the International Tennis Federation at the time is blamed on a software change at the tennis organization. The meeting was followed by an interview with the French sports newspaper L’Equipe. But here, too, words did not remain uncensored. Marcel Grzanna describes the bizarre circumstances of the two meetings in Beijing and what consequences they will have.
There is currently plenty of talk about decoupling and China’s subsequent isolation from the rest of the world. Frank Sieren questions this narrative and, to this end, has taken a look at China’s direct foreign investments. He found that, despite current debates, China’s interest in foreign countries has by no means waned. However, the targets of Chinese investment have changed significantly: less high-tech and less real estate. Now, one of China’s biggest projects overseas are new battery factories in Germany.
I hope you enjoy today’s issue!
Michael Radunski
Feature
Peng Shuai: a tentative end to a bleak tale
For the time being, the last chapter in the dark tale of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai has been written. Not by her personally, but by Wang Kan, the chief of staff of the Chinese Olympic Committee. Wang had taken on the role of translator when Peng met with journalists from the French sports newspaper L’Équipe at a Beijing hotel on Saturday. It was Peng’s first official interview since she accused Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault.
The interview questions had been pre-arranged. Wang’s translations had to be published verbatim by the newspaper. These were the conditions for the interview. The essence: Peng Shuai had never been sexually assaulted by anyone, let alone raped. Her detailed account of a private meeting with Zhang and his wife, during which the powerful official allegedly pressured the two-time Wimbledon winner to have sexual intercourse, was a “huge misunderstanding”.
“I never said anyone sexually assaulted me,” Peng told the reporters. That is indeed true. At least if this statement is to be taken literally. Because her accusations could only be read online. And only for less than half an hour on November 2, 2021. Then the original post was deleted from her account. Why was it deleted? Because she “wanted to”.
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