China State Media Editor Posts ‘Screenshots’ of ‘Recent’ Peng Shuai on Her WeChat

By
Tan Shi Hui
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Censorship is the suppression of content that happens in many countries to protect children, other vulnerable people and for national security purposes.

However, somewhere over the South China Sea, censorship does not only result in the content being missing – in some cases, the content creator may disappear too.

China State Media Editor Posts ‘Screenshots’ of ‘Recent’ Peng Shuai on Her WeChat

Sometime back, Peng Shuai, a Chinese tennis star, alleged that Zhang Gaoli, the former vice-premier of China, had sexually assaulted her. Now, she’s allegedly missing after all her accusations have been wiped from China’s internet.

Although an email that was purportedly from Peng was posted on China’s media, saying that she’s alright and that the accusation wasn’t true, the public still calls sus.

Now, photos of Peng enjoying her time with a cat surfaced on the internet.

The photos were posted on Peng’s purported WeChat moments. A screenshot of the account and the three photos were then uploaded on Shen Shiwei, an international editor and columnist at CGTN Twitter account.

The caption reads, “Peng Shuai’s WeChat moments just posted three latest photos and said ‘Happy weekend’. Her friend shared the three photos and the screenshot of Peng’s WeChat moments.”

These photos seemed to be shared by Peng’s friend whose profile picture was a Chinese flag. As expected, netizens called sus once again.

Netizens Are Not Buying It

Although the photos do look like her in the photos, netizens were still suspicious. Firstly, after a deep analysis of the WeChat account, netizens found out that the account has the username “Peng Shuai 2” in Chinese.

Netizens were also questioning who is the friend that sent these photos to the media.

Some of the netizens also said these photos could be taken a long time ago so this does not prove anything. They would prefer that she speak live.

Even then netizens may also say she’s forced to say certain things or a body double took her place in the live.

Why Were These Photos Posted?

The photos were posted a day after Steve Simon, head of the Women’s Tennis Association, told CNN that the organisation could exit China if the country can’t prove that Peng is safe and investigate allegations against former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli of pressuring Peng into sexual relations.

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Featured Image: Twitter (@shen_shiwei)

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Tan Shi Hui
Email: [email protected]