Chinese former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli was seen at the 20th Communist Party Congress on Sunday, making it his first public appearance since Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai accused him of sexual assault last year.

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. He sat in the front row of the podium for the opening of the twice-a-decade meeting.

In November last year, Peng accused Zhang of sexual assault. However, the post in which she made the accusations was soon removed from social media.

In a 1,600-word post on Weibo, Peng said she had a romantic relationship with former Zhang and that he had “forced” her to have sexual relations with him.

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“I know that someone of your eminence, Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli, you’ll say that you’re not afraid,” Peng wrote in her post, “but even if it’s just striking a stone with a pebble, or a moth attacking a flame and courting self destruction, I will tell the truth about you,” according to BBC.

“That afternoon I didn’t give my consent and couldn’t stop crying,” she wrote. “You brought me to your house and forced me and you to have relations.”

Peng also said that she will not be able to provide proof to back up her claims.

“I have no evidence, and it has been impossible to leave any evidence… You were always afraid that I would bring something like a tape recorder, to record evidence or something… There is no audio record, no video record, only my distorted but very real experience.”

However, she later denied having made the accusation.

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Following her post, he Women’s Tennis Association suspended tournaments in China, leading to an international outcry over her safety.

Peng has largely stayed out of the spotlight since making the claims in November.