Who is Peng Shuai?

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai had accused the country’s former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault in the first such allegations against a senior leader of the ruling Communist Party.

Zhang, who served on the Communist Party’s seven-person Politburo Standing Committee from 2012 to 2017, retired as vice premier in 2018. He is a close ally of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

After the allegations, authorities reportedly blocked access to Peng’s account on Chinese social media site Weibo in an apparent bid to censor the allegations.

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However, Peng later denied making the allegations.

On October 16, 2022, Zhang Gaoli made his first public appearance since the allegations.

The 75-year-old arrived onstage at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing behind President Xi Jinping and other retired and current leaders.

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Who is Peng Shuai?

Peng Shuai became the first Chinese tennis player to be ranked world number 1 (doubles) by the World Tennis Association (WTA) in February 2014. In August 2011, she reached No. 14 in the singles rankings. Peng has won two singles and 22 doubles titles. She defeated Uzbekistan’s Akgul Amanmuradova in the 2010 Asian Games’ final for a gold medal. Peng won her first ladies’ doubles championship with Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, repeating the feat at the 2014 French Open with Hsieh.

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She became the third Chinese tennis player to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2014 US Open, having previously never made it past the fourth round in women’s singles at a Grand Slam.

Peng began playing tennis at the age of eight after being introduced to the game by an uncle. Her father Peng Jijun is a police officer.