{"id":1074101,"date":"2021-12-01T19:29:03","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T00:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1074101"},"modified":"2021-12-01T19:29:05","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T00:29:05","slug":"womens-tennis-association-suspends-all-tournaments-in-china-over-treatment-of-peng-shuai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/womens-tennis-association-suspends-all-tournaments-in-china-over-treatment-of-peng-shuai\/","title":{"rendered":"Women&#039;s Tennis Association Suspends All Tournaments in China over Treatment of Peng Shuai"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwomens-tennis-association-suspends-all-tournaments-in-china-over-treatment-of-peng-shuai%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1074101&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">The Women\u2019s Tennis Association (WTA) has canceled all of its tournaments scheduled in China over the continued questions about the safety and welfare of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, WTA chair Steven Simon announced that he is suspending all WTA games in China and Hong Kong \u201cwith the full support of the WTA Board of Directors.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"10.027624309392\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;With the full support of the WTA Board of Directors, I am announcing the immediate suspension of all WTA tournaments in China, including Hong Kong.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 wta (@WTA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WTA\/status\/1466123626701275140?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 1, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wtatennis.com\/news\/2384758\/steve-simon-announces-wta-s-decision-to-suspend-tournaments-in-china\" target=\" _blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a>, Simon recounted the facts leading to the decision before blasting Chinese authorities for shutting the player away from public view.<\/p>\n<p>Early in November, Shuai <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2021\/11\/19\/tom-cotton-issues-ominous-warning-us-olympic-athletes-after-chinese-tennis-players-mysterious-disappearance\/\" target=\" _blank\" rel=\"noopener\">accused<\/a> Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of raping her in 2019. But Chinese officials quickly shut down her social media post discussing the accusation, and Shuai instantly disappeared from public view.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/chinese-vicepremier-zhang-gaoli-makes-a-speech-during-the-philippines-picture-id615787530\" alt=\"Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli makes a speech during the Philippines - China Trade and Investment Fourm at the Great Hall of the People on October...\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>BEIJING, CHINA \u2013 OCTOBER 20: Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli makes a speech during the Philippines \u2013 China Trade and Investment Forum at the Great Hall of the People on October 20, 2016 in Beijing, China. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is on a four-day state visit to China, his first since taking power in late June, with the aim of improving bilateral relations. (Photo by Wu Hong-Pool\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Nearly a week later, a strange <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2021\/11\/18\/womens-tennis-chairman-skeptical-of-all-is-well-email-from-missing-peng-shuai\/\" target=\" _blank\" rel=\"noopener\">message<\/a> that the Chinese government claimed came from Shuai was posted in which the player supposedly recanted the accusation and said that all is well. However, Shuai has still not been seen in public or verifiably heard from since her social media account was shut down.<\/p>\n<p>The WTA was quick to air calls for the Chinese government to step back and allow Shuai to speak openly for herself. The organization also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2021\/11\/15\/womens-tennis-china-tennis-star-rape\/\" target=\" _blank\" rel=\"noopener\">threatened<\/a> action unless they were assured that Shuai was in fact safe and free of coercion.<\/p>\n<p>At last, the WTA is following through with its threats to boycott China over its treatment of of its top tennis player.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNone of this is acceptable nor can it become acceptable,\u201d the WTA said of China\u2019s actions against Shuai. \u201cIf powerful people can suppress the voices of women and sweep allegations of sexual assault under the rug, then the basis on which the WTA was founded \u2013 equality for women \u2013 would suffer an immense setback. I will not and cannot let that happen to the WTA and its players.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>The statement added:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"22\">\n<p>As a result, and with the full support of the WTA Board of Directors, I am announcing the immediate suspension of all WTA tournaments in China, including Hong Kong. In good conscience, I don\u2019t see how I can ask our athletes to compete there when Peng Shuai is not allowed to communicate freely and has seemingly been pressured to contradict her allegation of sexual assault. Given the current state of affairs, I am also greatly concerned about the risks that all of our players and staff could face if we were to hold events in China in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>I have been gratified by the massive amount of international support the WTA has received for its position on this matter. To further protect Peng and many other women throughout the world, it is more urgent than ever for people to speak out. The WTA will do everything possible to protect its players. As we do so, I hope leaders around the world will continue to speak out so justice can be done for Peng, and all women, no matter the financial ramifications.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Simon concluded saying that the WTA regrets having to make such a move, but the oppressive Chinese government has left them with no choice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026unless China takes the steps we have asked for, we cannot put our players and staff at risk by holding events in China. China\u2019s leaders have left the WTA with no choice. I remain hopeful that our pleas will be heard, and the Chinese authorities will take steps to legitimately address this issue,\u201d Simon said.<\/p>\n<p>The tennis organization\u2019s actions are thus far the only substantive move the sports word has made in connection with the disappearance of the Chinese athlete.<\/p>\n<p>Other organizations with deep ties to China \u2014 such as the NBA \u2014 have been practically silent in the face of China\u2019s oppressive and political actions against Shuai. Leagues, such as the NBA and the NFL, that claim to be social justice warriors have virtually ignored China\u2019s actions to punish a female athlete for speaking out about a sexual assault.<\/p>\n<p><i>Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Warner.Todd.Huston\">facebook.com\/Warner.Todd.Huston<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Women\u2019s Tennis Association (WTA) has canceled all of its tournaments scheduled in China over the continued questions about the safety and welfare of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai. On &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1074101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1074101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1074101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1074101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1074101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1074101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1074101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}