China bowed to international pressure on Sunday and allowed tennis star Peng Shuai to talk with the International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach via video.
"Peng Shuai thanked the IOC for its concern about her well-being," the organisation said in a statement. "She explained that she is safe and well, living at her home in Beijing, but would like to have her privacy respected at this time," it said.
China has been getting increasingly alienated at the world stage because of its coercive foreign policy, poor track record on human rights and for concealing the origins of the Covid-19 breakout in which millions have lost their lives.
China attaches great importance to sport as a way to showcase its achievements and does not want anything to go wrong ahead of the Winter Olympics it is hosting next year. Already some countries have given a call for boycotting the Games due to China’s poor human rights record.
China has also been investing millions of dollars in professional tennis which is the latest sport that it has adopted.
Also read: USA and UN ask China to come clean on missing tennis star Peng Shuai
Earlier on Sunday, official photos showed Peng participating in a tennis tournament in Beijing, her first public appearance since she went missing after accusing a former Chinese Vice Premier of sexually assaulting her.
A Global Times reporter tweeted another video showing Peng signing autographs for children at what appears to be the same stadium before posing for photos with them.
The pressure had been building up on China over Peng’s sudden disappearance as the United States and United Nations have demanded proof from Beijing that Chinese tennis star is safe and well. Peng has gone missing ever since she accused a former Chinese Vice Premier of sexually assaulting her.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the US wanted China to "provide independent, verifiable proof" of Peng's whereabouts and expressed "deep concern" about the former world top-ranked doubles player.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has asked for a fully transparent investigation into the accusation made by Peng, 35, that Communist Party leader Zhang Gaoli, 75, had forced her to have sex with him.
Women's Tennis Association (WTA) chief Steve Simon had said he was willing to lose hundreds of millions of dollars worth of business in China if tennis player Pend Shuai is not fully accounted for and her allegations are not properly investigated.
His statement came on a day when tennis legend Serena Williams joined World No 1 Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka and tennis greats Billie Jean King and Chris Evert in coming out strongly to support Peng Shui.
