Foreign Affairs

‘Enormous Misunderstanding’: Peng Shuai Backtracks Sexual Assault Allegation In Controlled Interview

FILE - Peng Shuai, of China, returns a shot to Maria Sakkari, of Greece, during the second round of the US Open tennis championships on ug. 29, 2019, in New York. China's Foreign Ministry is sticking to its line that it isn't aware of the controversy surrounding tennis professional Peng Shuai, who disappeared after accusing a former top official of sexually assaulting her. A ministry spokesperson said Friday that the matter was not a diplomatic question and that he was not aware of the situation. (AP Photo/Michael Owens, File)

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai walked back her allegations of sexual assault against a former top official, calling it an “enormous misunderstanding” during a controlled interview on Monday with French newspaper L’Equipe.

“Sexual assault? I never said that anyone made me submit to a sexual assault,” Peng said in the interview with L’Equipe, delivered in front of a Chinese Olympic official, who translated her comments from Chinese, the AP reported. Interview questions were reportedly submitted in advance, and the format of the interview did not appear to permit follow-up questions.

“This post resulted in an enormous misunderstanding from the outside world,” Peng told L’Equipe, the AP reported. “My wish is that the meaning of this post no longer be skewed.”

Peng disappeared from public life after she made the allegations, sparking worldwide concern for her safety. She reemerged weeks later and eventually denied ever posting the allegations to social media.

“I erased it,” Peng said when asked by L’Equipe why her post was taken down from her account, the AP reported. “Why? Because I wanted to.”

The interview, alongside an announcement that International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach met Peng for dinner on Saturday, appeared to be an attempt to allay the ongoing concerns her initial disappearance caused, the AP reported. IOC spokesman Mark Adams would not say whether he believed Peng’s safety was at risk, the AP reported.

“We are a sporting organization, and our job is to remain in contact with her and, as we’ve explained in the past, to carry out personal and quiet diplomacy, to keep in touch with her, as we’ve done,” Adams said during his daily Olympic press conference, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“I don’t think it’s up to us to be able to judge, just as it’s not for you to judge, either, in one way or another, her position,” Adams said, The New York Times reported.