DRAWING THE LINE

WTA Suspends All Tournaments in China Over Concern for Tennis Star Peng Shuai

Hours after an IOC official had insisted Peng was free and safe, the chairman of the Women’s Tennis Association said he had “serious doubts” that was true.

The Women’s Tennis Association has announced the immediate suspension of its tournaments in China in response to Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai’s disappearance from public view. The immediate suspension follows a social media post Peng made on Nov. 2, claiming she had been sexually assaulted by a senior Communist Party official. Minutes after it went up, it was deleted, and Peng vanished for more than two weeks. The WTA’s chairman, Steve Simon, said in a Wednesday statement he admired Peng’s “strength and courage” in coming forward, but that he had “serious doubts that she is free, safe and not subject to censorship, coercion and intimidation.”

The move, made “with the full support of the WTA Board of Directors,” comes as a glaring indictment of the International Olympic Committee. The IOC said on Nov. 21 that it had met with Peng for a supervised half-hour video call, during which she seemed “relaxed” and “safe.” Critics dismissed the call as a publicity stunt designed to appease China, which will be hosting the Winter Olympics in February. Long-serving member Dick Pound had again insisted only hours before the WTA’s announcement that Peng was “fine” and “happy.” Though he didn’t address the IOC’s comments directly, Simons said in his statement that he refused to “put our players and staff at risk by holding events in China.”