Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai (彭帅) has ‘reappeared’ on Chinese social media for the first time her post of November 2nd (link) sent shockwaves across social media before it was taken offline.
Although her Weibo account has no new posts and searches for her name still do not come up with any recent content, Peng attended the Junior Tennis Challenge Grand Finals event while keeping a relatively low profile. Photos of Peng Shuai attending the Beijing event were shared by various accounts, including that of China Open (@中网ChinaOpen).
The Junior Tennis Finals are meant to cultivate Chinese tennis talent.
The event that Peng attended is the Diamond Cup Junior Tennis Challenge, which is meant for the 6-12 age group.
Peng’s appearance is noteworthy; over the past two weeks, international concerns have grown over the whereabouts of the Chinese tennis star. Famous tennis players including Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams used the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai in joining the calls to locate the “missing” Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai.
Peng had not been seen or heard from publicly she described the affair she allegedly had with former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli (张高丽) in her November 2nd Weibo post, in which she also claimed that Zhang once forced her into having sex.
While the issue was completely silenced in Chinese (social) media, the English-language state media outlet CGTN did address the commotion on Twitter on November 17, when they shared a screenshot of an email allegedly sent by Peng to WTA Chairman Steve Simon, saying she was not missing and not unsafe.
While many people still raised their concerns on Twitter and a White House spokesperson even said the Biden administration was ‘deeply concerned’ about the reports alleging that Peng Shuai had gone missing, photos of Peng Shuai in her home showed up on Friday (November 19th), posted on Twitter by Chinese journalist
Shen Shiwei (沈诗伟) claiming the tennis star posted them on her WeChat moments.
Peng Shuai’s WeChat moments just posted three latest photos and said “Happy weekend”.
Her friend shared the three photos and the screenshot of Peng’s WeChat moments. pic.twitter.com/tut8CEH6gu— Shen Shiwei沈诗伟 (@shen_shiwei) November 19, 2021
One day later, a video was also shared on Twitter by Shen, showing Peng having dinner and having conversations in which it was clearly indicated that the date was November 20, 2021.
Peng Shuai had a dinner with her friends. pic.twitter.com/rhZUvYlIxa
— Shen Shiwei沈诗伟 (@shen_shiwei) November 20, 2021
Later, news came out that Peng also attended the Junior Tennis Finals during the weekend. After the email, the home pics, and the dinner, this was the fourth time news of Peng’s whereabouts made its rounds on Twitter, but it was the very first time in 19 days that she ‘reappeared’ in mainland China’s online media spheres.
“A familiar face came to the Diamond Cup,” one comment said, with others writing “long time no see” and “she showed her face!”
“She lost a lot of weight,” others said, not explicitly mentioning Peng Shuai’s name.
Some commenters just expressed they were happy to see the tennis champion “doing well” and being “safe and sound.”
By Manya Koetse
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