“IOC is now another mouthpiece of China” Twitteratis berate IOC President Thomas Bach after his photo with Zhang Gaoli, accused in the Peng Shuai case, goes viral
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Thomas Bach and Zhang Gaoli
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach has been one of the most sought people this month given IOC’s shocking silence over the disappearance of Peng Shuai, the Chinese tennis player who accused China’s Communist Party’s senior minister Zhang Gaoli of having assaulted and forced her into a sexual relationship a decade ago.
With Peng’s official account banned and her post taken down, there was a rising tension in the world regarding her safety and well-being as it had been more than 3 weeks that someone had heard of her or seen her. While the IOC did claim that they had a video call with the player, there have been doubts over the legitimacy of the statement given IOC’s earlier statement of maintaining ‘quiet diplomacy’ in the matter.
Peng was recently spotted at a tennis event and her pictures and videos from the event were circulated by a top Chinese minister and while many were relieved that she is safe and sound, quite a few have not been completely assured of her safety given China’s huge censoring of content and belief that amidst the international pressure, doctored images could have been released.
Amidst all this fiasco of the IOC, an old photo from 2016 of Thomas Bach and Zhang Gaoli is making rounds on the internet and it is believed that the two share a great bonding and using that influence, the Chinese government has made sure that the IOC remains quite given the growing protests to cancel the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing followed by the Winter Paralympics.
WTA still not assured of Peng’s safety despite Thomas Bach’s claims
WTA chief Steve Simon remains sceptical of Peng’s safety despite Bach and IOC claiming of having talked with the player who has requested privacy. With threats of cancelling all WTA tournaments in China from the next season and the increase of protests against the 2022 Beijing Olympics, China and IOC are currently under a lot of pressure to get the matter resolved quickly.
With the White House also getting involved in the controversy and US and the UK taking a stand to have a ‘diplomatic boycott’ over the games next year, the next few weeks will decide the fate of the Olympics.
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