Chinese Tennis Star Again Denies Accusing Government Official of Sexual Assault on Social Media

Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai is again denying that she had accused a former Communist Party official of sexually assaulting her in a social media post late last year.

L’Equipe, a French daily sports newspaper, published an interview it conducted with Peng in its Monday edition.

“I never said anyone had sexually assaulted me in any way,” Peng is quoted in the interview after she is asked directly if she actually wrote the post on her account on China’s Weibo social media platform.

In the November 2 post, Peng, a former Olympian who won titles at Wimbledon and the French Open, said former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli coerced her into sex before it evolved into an on-off consensual relationship. Her post was quickly deleted and she vanished from public view for several days. She eventually appeared at a tennis event and spoke by video with Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee president, during which she said she was safe.

Her public absence sparked concern among some of the world’s top tennis players, including Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams, Billie Jean King and Novak Djokovic, and the Women’s Tennis Association suspended all of its sponsored tournaments in mainland China and Hong Kong.

Peng told L’Equipe the initial post had caused a huge “misunderstanding” and that she did not want it to attract any more attention, and insisted that she had deleted it herself “because I wanted to.” She also explained that her “disappearance” was simply due to her being unable to respond “to so many messages.” Peng said her personal life since the controversy surfaced had been uneventful, and stressed that her private life and personal problems should not be mixed with sports and politics.

Peng also told the newspaper she was retiring from tennis.

She also said she had dinner with IOC President Bach Saturday, which the IOC confirmed in a separate statement Monday.

Bach told the Reuters news agency when asked about Peng’s interview that any communication “is up to her, it is her life, it is her story.”

The newspaper said it submitted the questions to Peng in advance and conducted the interview in Chinese. Wang Kang, the chief of staff of the Chinese Olympic Committee, accompanied Peng during the interview and translated her answers for the reporter.

WTA Chairman and CEO Steve Simon called for an open investigation into Peng’s initial accusations after a Chinese state-run media outlet released a statement it said was an email Peng had sent to Simon in which she denied the allegations and insisted she was not missing or unsafe, but just “resting at home.”

Peng issued a similar denial back in December during a virtual interview that was posted on the website of the Singapore-based Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao.

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

US Trade Official Says China Failed to Meet Phase 1 Commitments

WASHINGTON — 

China has failed to meet its commitments under a two-year Phase 1 trade deal that expired at the end of 2021, and discussions are continuing with Beijing on the matter, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi said on Tuesday.

“You know, it is really clear that the Chinese haven’t met their commitment in Phase 1. That’s something we’re trying to address,” Bianchi told a virtual forum hosted by the Washington International Trade Association.

In the deal signed by former President Donald Trump in January 2020, China pledged to increase purchases of U.S. farm and manufactured goods, energy and services by $200 billion above 2017 levels during 2020 and 2021.

Through November, China had met only about 60% of that goal, according to trade data compiled by Peterson Institute for International Economics senior fellow Chad Bown.

The deal prevented the escalation of a nearly three-year trade war between the world’s two largest economies but left in place tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of imports on both sides of the Pacific.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in late January told lawmakers that China’s purchases of U.S. farm goods fell short of the Phase 1 goal by about $13 billion.

The U.S. Census bureau is expected to release final 2021 trade data for goods and services on February 8, which will provide specifics on the shortfall.

Chinese customs data showed the country’s 2021 trade surplus with the United States surged 25% to $396.6 billion after declining for two straight years, with exports to the United States up 27% and imports of American goods rising 33%.

A spokesperson for China’s Embassy in Washington said Beijing has worked to implement the Phase 1 agreement “despite the impact of COVID-19, global recession and supply chain disruptions.”

“We hope the U.S. can create a sound atmosphere and conditions for expanded trade with China. The two trade teams are in normal communication,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Bianchi, whose portfolio includes China and Asian trade matters, did not identify steps the Biden administration is taking to hold China to its Phase 1 commitments, which also include some increased Chinese market access for U.S. agriculture, biotechnology and financial services.

“It’s not our goal to escalate here. But certainly, we’re looking at all the tools we have in our toolbox to make sure they’re held accountable,” Bianchi said, without providing details.

Bianchi, who served as an economic adviser in the Obama administration and took office in October, said the United States was trying to foster a “stable relationship” with China, but the two countries are at a “difficult stage in the relationship.”

“To be super-candid, the conversations are not easy. They’re very difficult. But you know, from my perspective, what’s important is that we’re having conversations and they will be unflinchingly honest,” Bianchi said.

She said USTR was emphasizing that China’s state aid to companies and non-market economic policies and practices are a “serious threat to American economic interests.”

Bianchi said USTR was consulting closely with Congress on the Biden administration’s planned Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to re-engage economically with the rest of Asia, and more details would be released in coming weeks.

The framework will not include improved market access for countries that sign up, Bianchi said, but said the United States will be seeking high standard “binding commitments” from trading partners in negotiations on digital trade policies, labor rules, environmental standards and supply chain resilience.

Time for Political Decisions as Iran Talks Enter 'Final Stretch' — US Official

WASHINGTON — 

Indirect talks between the United States and Iran on returning to the 2015 nuclear agreement are entering the “final stretch,” with all sides having to make tough political decisions, a senior U.S. State Department official said on Monday.

The latest talks in Vienna were “among the most intensive that we had to date” on returning to the deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which former President Donald Trump pulled out of in 2018, the official said.

“We made progress narrowing down the list of differences to just the key priorities on all sides. And that’s why now is the time for political decisions,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to brief reporters on the talks.

U.S. President Joe Biden came into office a year ago promising to re-enter the deal, but Iran has continued work on its nuclear program and a deal has remained elusive.

The official said Washington has already laid out what it was prepared to do in terms of lifting sanctions that are inconsistent with the nuclear deal and that the ball was more in Tehran’s court.

“Now is the time… for Iran to decide, whether it is prepared to make those decisions necessary for a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA.”

“We are in the final stretch,” the official added. “Given the pace of Iran’s advances, its nuclear advances, we only have a handful of weeks left to get a deal.”

In the event of no deal with Iran, the official said Washington would have to step up pressure — “economic, diplomatic and otherwise” — in the face of Tehran’s unconstrained nuclear program.

The official repeated Washington’s willingness to engage with Iran through direct talks, saying it would be very much in the interest of the process given the limited time frame but added that there was no sign that they were close to doing that.

“We have not met directly yet. We have no indication that’s going to be the case when we reconvene,” the official said.