{"id":1205776,"date":"2022-01-10T18:05:28","date_gmt":"2022-01-10T23:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1205776"},"modified":"2022-01-10T18:05:40","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10T23:05:40","slug":"australian-defense-minister-deflects-from-djokovic-scandal-with-peng-shuai-rant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/australian-defense-minister-deflects-from-djokovic-scandal-with-peng-shuai-rant\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Defense Minister Deflects from Djokovic Scandal with Peng Shuai Rant"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/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%2Faustralian-defense-minister-deflects-from-djokovic-scandal-with-peng-shuai-rant%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=1205776&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\">Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton issued impassioned remarks in an interview published Monday in defense of Chinese tennis champion Peng Shuai, who the regime disappeared for public life after accused its former Olympics committee head of rape.<\/p>\n<p>Dutton\u2019s remarks surface three months after Peng\u2019s initial disappearance \u2013 she has since resurfaced denying the text of her post on social media accusing senior Chinese Communist Party official Zhang Gaoli of forcing her into sex \u2013 and in the middle of international outrage of Australia\u2019s own poor treatment of a tennis player: Novak Djokovic, the world\u2019s top men\u2019s tennis player, who spent the weekend in a migrant detention facility because he has not consumed a Chinese coronavirus vaccine product.<\/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<p>A district court ordered Djokovic\u2019s immediate release on Monday. Australian police are now facing further criticism, particularly in Djokovic\u2019s native Serbia, over using force to subdue a rowdy pro-Djokovic protest in Melbourne following the order.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19426018\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1363761663.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19426018\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1363761663.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Fans protest in Flinders Lane on January 10, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. Judge Kelly ordered that Djokovic be immediately released from detention and the decision to cancel his visa was \u201cunreasonable\u201d. (Sam Tabone\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Dutton made the remarks in an interview with two Australian newspapers, the&nbsp;<em>Sydney Morning Herald<\/em> and&nbsp;the<em> Age<\/em>, centered on Australia\u2019s national security and the threat that China poses to the region. China and Australia have an increasingly fraught relationship threatened by China\u2019s illegal expansion in the South China Sea and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2020\/08\/31\/australia-investigating-communist-infiltration-public-universities\/\">infiltration<\/a> of Australian politics, academia, and other industries.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>China has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2020\/11\/20\/china-australia-is-vassal-us-five-eyes-fan-club\/\">responded<\/a> to all Australian concerns about the malign influence of the Communist Party in the region by insulting Australia as a \u201cvassal of the U.S.\u201d and issuing vague threats of Canberra does not adhere to Beijing\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n<p>In discussing China relations, Dutton <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/politics\/federal\/dutton-slams-celebs-for-not-speaking-up-about-china-s-treatment-of-women-20220107-p59mj6.html\">decried<\/a> the poor state of women\u2019s rights in China, citing the Peng situation in particular.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t understand how, in the year 2021, in the #MeToo age, we can have an international female tennis star who claims to have been raped and sexually assaulted and she\u2019s now effectively under house arrest and has had her social media account wiped,\u201d| Dutton said, \u201cand somehow that\u2019s behavior that we should tolerate.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19003722\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/peng-shuai-2020file-china-tennis-player-ap.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19003722\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/peng-shuai-2020file-china-tennis-player-ap.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>China\u2019s Peng Shuai serves to Japan\u2019s Nao Hibino during their first round singles match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 21, 2020. (AP Photo\/Andy Brownbill)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWell, it\u2019s not \u2013 and we\u2019re better off to speak publicly about it because otherwise the behavior won\u2019t change,\u201d Dutton warned.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t tolerate, and nor would we ever want to tolerate, the suggestion that if somebody had been raped, that it wasn\u2019t going to be addressed,\u201d Dutton continued, according to the&nbsp;<em>Sydney Morning Herald<\/em>. \u201cAnd not to mention the plight of tens of thousands of others who find themselves in the same position where they\u2019re either threatened or their human rights are violated or otherwise, the Uyghurs and the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19003698\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Peng-Shuai-China-tennis-Chinese-Vice-Premier-Zhang-Gaoli-split-getty.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19003698\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Peng-Shuai-China-tennis-Chinese-Vice-Premier-Zhang-Gaoli-split-getty.jpg\" alt=\"(COMBO) This combination of file photos shows tennis player Peng Shuai of China (L) during her women&#039;s singles first round match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 16, 2017; and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli (R) during a visit to Russia at the Saint Petersburg International Investment Forum in Saint Petersburg on June 18, 2015. - Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai said she was safe and well during a video call with the International Olympic Committee chief on November 21, 2021, the organisation said, amid international concern about her well-being after being seen attending a Beijing tennis tournament, marking her first public appearance since she made her accusations against former vice premier Zhang Gaoli. (Photo by Paul CROCK and Alexander ZEMLIANICHENKO \/ AFP) (Photo by PAUL CROCK,ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO\/AFP via Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>This combination of file photos shows tennis player Peng Shuai of China (L) during her women\u2019s singles first round match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 16, 2017; and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli (R) during a visit to Russia at the Saint Petersburg International Investment Forum in Saint Petersburg on June 18, 2015. (PAUL CROCK, ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>China is currently engaged in a campaign of genocide against the Uyghur people of East Turkistan, fueled by the use of concentration camps and mass enslavement.<\/p>\n<p>Peng Shuai, a two-time doubles Grand Slam winner, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2021\/11\/15\/womens-tennis-china-tennis-star-rape\/\">disappeared<\/a> in November after publishing a post on the Chinese government-controlled social media outlet Weibo accusing Zhang of having forced her into sex, prompting a prolonged affair she claimed was later consensual. Government censors disappeared the post rapidly, but not fast enough for users to screencap and share its contents.<\/p>\n<p>The Women\u2019s Tennis Association (WTA) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2021\/12\/01\/womens-tennis-association-suspends-all-tournaments-china-treatment-peng-shuai\/\">pulled<\/a> all its tournaments out of China in response to Peng\u2019s treatment. Peng subsequently surfaced and denied the Weibo post.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>At the time, in November, the Australian government issued a statement expressing concern for Peng.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is understandable that many people, including in the international sporting community, have raised serious concerns about Ms Peng\u2019s welfare,\u201d an Australian government spokesperson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/australia-news\/2021\/nov\/23\/china-must-answer-serious-questions-about-tennis-star-peng-shuai-australia-says\">said<\/a> at the time. \u201cThis is a matter that needs to be responded to with transparency and accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Peng is not currently in Australia and does not appear to be making any preparations for the Australian Open, set to begin next Monday. The Australian Open is one of the four most prestigious tournaments in tennis and the first Grand Slam of the yearly calendar.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest story of the Australian Open so far has been not the Chinese government\u2019s treatment of Peng, but the Australian government\u2019s treatment of Djokovic. The top men\u2019s tennis player entered Australia last week, apparently believing that he had received a medical exemption from the country\u2019s vaccine mandate, but Border Force immediately apprehended him in Melbourne, canceling his visa. The Australian government then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2022\/01\/06\/australia-forces-tennis-champion-novak-djokovic-dingy-refugee-facility\/\">forced<\/a> him into detention at the Park Hotel, a facility for illegal migrants, while Djokovic appealed his case. The incident triggered protests led by the Djokovic family in Belgrade, Serbia, and father Srdjan announced that he and supporters of his son would \u201cfight them in the streets\u201d if they continued to detain Djokovic.<\/p>\n<p>An Australian judge ordered Djokovic\u2019s immediate release on Monday, though the Immigration Ministry has threatened to invalidate his visa. Djokovic said in a social media post on Monday that he hopes to play the Australian Open despite the scandal.<\/p>\n<p>Following the judge\u2019s orders, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2022\/01\/10\/australian-police-tear-gas-pro-djokovic-crowd-after-legal-win\/\">clashes<\/a> erupted in Melbourne outside of the offices of Djokovic\u2019s attorneys between police and Djokovic supporters, many of them flying Serbian flags. Police reported used tear gas to subdue the crowd; journalists reported being attacked.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic spoke out in defense of Peng in November, calling her situation \u201chorrifying.\u201d The player also supported the WTA in withdrawing from China, saying he \u201cfully\u201d supported withdrawing from China and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/live-news\/20211202-djokovic-says-fully-supports-wta-s-china-decision-over-peng\">calling<\/a> it \u201cvery bold and very courageous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frances Martel on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1641649586431000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2qb7s_yht6bVIqM52HrsX1\">Facebook<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1641649586431000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0TGxQie-dT9gk1AOJXZV6a\">Twitter.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton issued impassioned remarks in an interview published Monday in defense of Chinese tennis champion Peng Shuai, who the regime disappeared for public life after accused &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"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-1205776","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\/1205776","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\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1205776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1205776\/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=1205776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1205776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1205776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}