Tennis Australia and the Australian Open don’t want fans asking questions about Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai. After all, they have the Chinese market to worry about.
Fans at the Australian Open were told by security to cover up or remove their shirts that featured a picture of Peng with the word “Missing” and the question, “Where is Peng Shuai?” Peng disappeared from public view after accusing former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. After global outcry, the Chinese Communist Party released an email they allege was from Peng retracting her accusation. The CCP then began damage control, trotting Peng out in staged events and conversations with useful idiots such as the International Olympic Committee.
These fans were told their shirts were banned because they were “political,” but what exactly is political about such a simple question? Until 2021, Peng had competed in every Australian Open since 2005. She was ranked 102nd in the world when she last competed, just before the world (and likely her training) was thrown into flux by COVID-19. Peng is the only Chinese tennis player ever to have been ranked No. 1 in the world. It is reasonable to wonder what happened to her and why she isn’t at the Australian Open.
The real problem, of course, is that Tennis Australia and the Australian Open rely on Chinese sponsors and Chinese viewership. The Australian Open in 2018 announced one of the biggest sponsorship deals in its history: a five-year deal with Chinese distillery Luzhou Laojiao. That same year, Tennis Australia inked a deal with Chinese water company Ganten. Tennis Australia was aiming to double the number of broadcast hours in China and bring more visitors from China. Forbes reported in 2018 that “China’s middle class is spurring the Australian Open record-breaking attendance.”
And so, even while the Women’s Tennis Association is pushing back against China’s treatment of Peng, Tennis Australia and the Australian Open are doing what they can to keep her story from hitting their airwaves. After all, the “political question” of what happened to a female tennis player after she accused a powerful man of sexual assault can’t be allowed to get in the way of increasing viewership in China.
