Some analysts believe that the ghostly shadow behind the Peng Shuai incident is that Wang Huning, a member of the Jiangist Standing Committee who controls the CCP’s propaganda system, is secretly helping Zhang Gaoli, a former member of the Standing Committee who also belongs to the Jiangist faction, with the aim of maintaining the stability of the CCP regime. Photo shows Zhang Gaoli (L) and Wang Huning at the Great Hall in Beijing on May 5, 2016.
Peng Shuai’s allegations of sexual assault by former Communist Party Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli continue to fester in the international community. U.S. lawmakers from both parties recently introduced a cross-party resolution to include a rare sexual assault case against Zhang Gaoli, and to hold the International Olympic Committee accountable for cooperating with the Chinese Communist Party in covering up the truth.
According to international media reports, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) and Republican U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) jointly introduced a resolution on December 3 condemning the IOC’s actions in the Peng Shuai case as a cover-up by the Chinese Communist government.
The resolution said that Peng’s later-deleted posts on Chinese social media Weibo indicated that she had been sexually assaulted and forced to have sex with Zhang Gaoli, who was a senior Communist Party official and executive vice premier of the Communist Party’s State Council from 2013 to 2018.
The resolution condemns the IOC’s role in the Peng Shuai incident as a cover-up in collaboration with the Chinese Communist government, while questioning the IOC’s ability and willingness to hold abusers accountable and protect athletes competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing as well as the Paralympic Games.
Previously, IOC President Bach held a video call with Peng Shuai on Nov. 21 in an attempt to confirm to the outside world that Peng’s life was in safe hands.
Democratic Congressman Wahlston said in a statement, “The IOC’s decision to engage in this cover-up is appalling and shows the organization’s dangerous disregard for basic human rights and athlete safety issues.”
Republican Congressman Walz emphasized that “the world is watching how the IOC is whitewashing Peng Shuai’s imprisonment, the Chinese Communist Party’s genocide of Uighurs, and its suppression of democratic rights in Hong Kong and Tibet.”
The bipartisan lawmakers called for an independent and transparent investigation into the sexual assault allegations made by Peng Shuai and an end to censorship of Peng’s speech in the case, as well as the restoration of Peng’s personal freedom, including allowing him to leave China.
The resolution represents the first time that the sexual assault scandal involving retired Chinese Communist Party official Zhang Gaoli has been included in a cross-party bill in the United States.
Just two days before the U.S. Congress made the resolution, on December 1, the World Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced that it would suspend all tournaments in China and Hong Kong, effective immediately.
WTA President Steve Simon said in a statement released on the same day that he has been concerned about Peng Shuai’s safety after she allegedly was sexually assaulted by former Chinese Communist Party Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, and with Peng’s allegations so far not being fully and transparently investigated and information censored and deleted, Simon is concerned that all players and staff may be at risk if the event is held in China in 2022.
The U.S. State Department said on the 3rd that the U.S. supports the WTA’s decision to cancel the tournament in China and has not found any factual evidence that would guarantee Peng Shuai’s personal safety.
At the sensitive moment when Beijing is about to host the Winter Olympics, Zhang Gaoli’s sexual assault incident has plunged the IOC and Beijing authorities into an international wave of recrimination and added weight to the West’s boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
U.S. President Joe Biden and the Secretary of State said earlier that they are considering a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics with Western allies, which would mean no U.S. government officials would attend the Games.
Late on Nov. 2, Peng Shuai posted on her Weibo account that she had been forced to have sex by former Chinese Communist Party Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. (Screenshot from Weibo)
Peng Shuai’s incident occurred late at night on November 2, when she posted on her Weibo account that she had been forced to have sex by former Chinese Communist Party Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. In a long post of more than 1,000 words, she said, “I know that for your high-powered Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, you said you were not afraid. But even if it is to hit the stone with an egg, moth to flame self-destructive I will tell the truth with you. With your intellectual tactics you must deny or can be held back to me, you can be so cynical.”
Once the above article came out, Peng Shuai microblogging was immediately shut down and the article in question was quickly deleted after just 20 minutes.
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