Peng last year accused a former senior Chinese Community
Party official of sexual assault. IOC president Thomas Bach is among the few
people outside China to have spoken with Peng in the past three months in calls
by video link with IOC staff.
Those calls frustrated tennis leaders and human rights
activists who wanted footage or transcripts that could verify Peng’s
well-being. They claimed the IOC was covering up for the Olympic host nation.
“We know from her explanations during the video conferences
that she is living here in Beijing,” Bach said, “that she can move freely, that
she’s spending time with her family and friends.”
“We will know better about her physical integrity and about
her mental state when we can finally meet in person,” the International Olympic
Committee president said, adding her physical safety was “maybe the most
important human right.”
The most recent call between Peng and IOC staff was held
this week, Bach said.
No details about the dinner during the Olympics — inside the
bubble that separates accredited personnel from the Chinese public — have been
given.
The two-time Grand Slam doubles champion used a social media
post to accuse a former member of China’s ruling Standing Committee, Zhang
Gaoli, of sexual assault several years earlier. The post was removed quickly
and details of the allegation were erased from the internet in China.
Peng then appeared to have vanished from public view, but
soon made a brief appearance at a youth tennis event. She also did an interview
with a Chinese-language daily from Singapore that raised questions about its
authenticity.
On social media, the hashtag WhereIsPengShuai has trended
and won support from tennis greats Serena Williams, Martina Navratilova and
Roger Federer.
The campaign was a talking point during last month’s
Australian Open with dozens of fans wearing the slogan on T-shirts.
The IOC president said if Peng wants an official Chinese
investigation into her allegations “we would also support her in this, but it
must be her decision.”
“It’s a necessity to respect her,” Bach said, “to listen to
her and how she sees the situation, how she wants to live her life.”
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