The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) will not return to China this year as the organisation is still working to seek a resolution to the Peng Shuai issue, which led to the WTA having a stand-off with China, tour chief Steve Simon told Reuters.
Last November, the former doubles champion had accused former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of forcing her into sex during a years-long on-off relationship. Shuai had since disappeared from the public sphere. Her well-being became a topic of concern-- it was feared she was being held incommunicado by the Chinese government.
She had posted a message on social media accusing the former vice-premier of social abuse-- the message was then taken down and she disappeared from public view for three weeks. After that Shaui said the message had been misunderstood and denied having made a sexual assault claim.
The WTA, right from the beginning had insisted on a transparent inquiry into Shuai's claims of sexual assault. “We want to find a resolution that Peng can be comfortable with, the Chinese government can be comfortable with, and we can be comfortable with. We are not about walking away from China. We have suspended our operations there right now. We will continue to do that until we get to a resolution,” Simon said. Shuai is a three-time Olympian and a grand slam doubles champion.