The president of the International Olympic Committee shas ought to play down concerns about the safety of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai. Photo / AP
The president of the International Olympic Committee shas ought to play down concerns about the safety of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai. Photo / AP
Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, will meet Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai inside the closed loop of the Beijing Games.
Bach said the confirmed physical meeting - following multiple video calls with the three-time Olympian since she was censored after making sexual assault allegations against a senior Chinese minister in November - would allow the IOC to "know better about her physical integrity and mental state". The IOC would also support Peng if she wanted her allegations to be investigated, Bach said.
A strict closed loop, which restricts participants from mixing with the public to avoid the spread of Covid-19, is in place for the Olympic Games, which gets underway tomorrow. Although no date was given for the meeting, Shuai will need to go through Covid protocols before entering.
"We will have the meeting. I am very happy and very grateful to Peng Shuai," said Bach at a press conference in Beijing. "She will enter the closed loop to have the meeting that she also wants. Once the [Covid] procedures have finished we will have that meeting.
"Our approach is first and foremost in the interests of Peng Shuai to answer the question which was concerning us from a human point of view, that of where is Peng Shuai? That's why we took this approach to get in contact and get to know where she is and as far as possible how she is."
The whereabouts and safety of Shuai, who initially disappeared from public view, has become a cause for global concern during the last three months with a campaign with the hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai rising to prominence worldwide.
The IOC has faced accusations of being complicit with China, with statements published following their previous video meetings not making references to Shuai's allegations that a former Chinese vice premier, Zhang Gaoli, had sexually assaulted her or why there is concern for the athlete's welfare.
'If she wants to have an inquiry, we would support her decision'
Supporters of Peng Shuai wear T-shirts as they pose for a photo during the women's final at the Australian Open. Photo / AP
Asked specifically if the IOC either knew of her whereabouts or was not willing to say publicly, Bach replied that Shuai had explained over video that she was "living in Beijing, can move freely and was spending time with her family and friends."
Bach then added that there was no better way of checking on her "physical integrity" than by meeting in person.
"I said I want to meet personally when I arrive here in China," Bach added.
"It's not only a sign of respect but a necessity to respect her and listen to her and how she sees the situation, how she wants to live her life.
"If she wants to have an inquiry [about allegations of sexual assault against top Chinese politician], we would support her in this but it must be her decision, it's her life, her allegations, and we've heard the withdrawal too.
"We will have this personal meeting and continue this conversation. And then we will know better also about her physical integrity, her mental state, when we can finally meet in person."
Bach was also asked about China's poor human rights record, another subject threatening to overshadow the Games, and again tried to use the shield of sport and politics not mixing to protect against criticism.
"We can only unite countries in sport if the Olympic Games stands above political issues. We must be politically neutral and not become a tool to achieve political goals," he said. "If we make a political standpoint and get in the middle of tensions, disputes and confrontations we are putting the Games at risk."
Earlier in the day, a spokesperson for the Beijing Games had responded more strongly, saying criticism of China's rights record, including its treatment of mostly Muslim Uyghurs in its Xinjiang region, and political boycotts had undermined the Games.
"The so-called China human rights issue is a lie made up by people with ulterior motives," Zhao Weidong told Reuters.
"I want to emphasise that the Olympics is a great spectacle for athletes and sports fans across the world. From the current situation, many countries and athletes have expressed their support for the Beijing Winter Olympics.
"I believe that at the instance in which the Olympic flame is lit, all of this so-called boycott banter will be extinguished."
