Women’s tennis takes a stand against China
Will any other sport dare follow?
IN THE WORLD of sport, it was a remarkable rebuke of China’s ruling Communist Party. On December 1st the Florida-based Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said it would stop holding tournaments in mainland China and Hong Kong in response to the silencing of Peng Shuai, a Chinese tennis star, after she had publicly accused a former senior Chinese leader of sexual assault. Steve Simon, the WTA’s boss, used language typical of human-rights groups, not of firms with profits at stake. He accused China’s leadership of failing to handle the matter credibly: “I have serious doubts that she is free, safe and not subject to censorship, coercion and intimidation.”
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Ballsy”
From the December 4th 2021 edition
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