Human rights advocates say the International Olympic Committee's intervention in the Peng Shuai case shows it chose to side with officials in China instead of athletes.
When Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai seemingly disappeared from public view after posting allegations that a top Chinese official sexually assaulted her, the Women's Tennis Association made repeated requests to speak to Peng-and demanded that China investigate her allegations. In a statement, the IOC said Peng was well and asked people to respect her privacy-but it made no mention of Peng's sexual assault allegation. The opaque nature of the IOC statement, paired with various appearances reported by Chinese state media, left some human rights advocates questioning whether Peng is truly as safe and as free as she seems. Human rights advocates say the IOC's intervention in the Peng case shows it chose to side with officials in China-host of the 2022 Winter Olympics in February-instead of athletes. The committee opted to stay silent on the sexual assault allegation Peng leveled at retired Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli in a Nov. 2 post on her Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform. Asked about these allegations of covering for China, the IOC sent a statement-saying the video call was intended to enquire about Peng's "Well-being and safety" and that "Safeguarding the well-being of athletes is paramount to the IOC and the Olympic Movement." The organization will not comment further. Human Rights Watch called on the IOC to use its influence in China, a country with a history of stifling dissenters, to convince officials to stop censorship of Peng's case and allow her to leave the country without fear of retaliation.