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The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has announced that it is suspending all WTA tournaments in China, including Hong Kong, with immediate effect, in a statement released on Dec. 2.

The announcement comes amid continued concerns for Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai's well-being, after she publicly accused former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault, and was censored as a result.

WTA chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Steve Simon said in the statement that the Chinese leadership has yet to address her allegation, which he said was a "very serious issue", in a credible way.

"While we now know where Peng is, I have serious doubts that she is free, safe and not subject to censorship, coercion and intimidation."

Urged leaders to speak out

In his statement, Simon urged international leaders to speak out "so justice can be done for Peng, and all women, no matter the financial ramifications".

"In good conscience, I don’t see how I can ask our athletes to compete there when Peng Shuai is not allowed to communicate freely and has seemingly been pressured to contradict her allegation of sexual assault."

He added that he was "greatly concerned" about the risks that WTA's players and staff could face in China if the association continues to hold events there in 2022, due to the current situation.

He also expressed regret that the situation had turned out this way, and expressed hope that the Chinese authorities will address the issue "legitimately".

Support from tennis players

Former women's world number one Billie Jean King took to Twitter to commend Simon and the WTA leadership for the decision.

I applaud Steve Simon & the @WTA leadership for taking a strong stand on defending human rights in China & around the world. The WTA is on the right side of history in supporting our players.

This is another reason why women’s tennis is the leader in women’s sports. https://t.co/PHiU0S7Prw

— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) December 1, 2021

Meanwhile, the current top men's tennis player Novak Djokovic also voiced his support for WTA's stance on the issue, according to AFP, saying that they don't currently have "enough information about Peng Shuai and her well-being".

He added that her health was of the "utmost importance to the world of tennis".

Djokovic, who's also the co-founder of the Professional Tennis Player's Association (PTPA), said everyone, including the PTPA and the men's tennis organisation -- the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) -- "was asking for clarity on what is going on".

Peng disappeared from public view after making allegations on Nov. 2

On Nov. 2, Peng posted the sexual assault allegations on her Weibo page and was censored within minutes, according to NPR's correspondent in Beijing.

Subsequently, searches for Peng and Zhang on the Chinese social media site at the time only yielded results that were unrelated to the allegations.

The tennis star went missing from the public eye, and the WTA said on Nov. 14 that its officials and active players were unable to reach Peng directly.

WTA's chief told the New York Times (NYT) that the association had received confirmation from the Chinese Tennis Association and several other sources that Peng was not under any "physical threat".

Chinese state media published "letter" from Peng

Then, on Nov. 18, Chinese Global Television Network (CGTN) published a letter on Twitter that it claimed was from Peng.

In the letter, Peng purportedly refuted the sexual allegations that were posted on her verified Weibo page previously, while also claiming that she was "not missing" and not "unsafe".

Simon said he had "(a) hard time" believing that the letter was written by Peng, and stressed the need for her allegations to be investigated "with full transparency and without censorship".

IOC talked to Peng in video call

Four days later, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said its president -- Thomas Bach -- had a video call with Peng which lasted 30 minutes on Nov. 21.

According to the IOC, the Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, Emma Terho, and IOC's member in China Li Lingwei, was also present in the video call.

Terho said she was "relieved" to see that Peng was "doing fine", and further claimed that Peng "appeared to be relaxed".

On the same day, a Chinese state media journalist posted a video clip on Twitter, showing Peng interacting with young children and signing tennis balls for them.

Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief for Chinese state-controlled media Global Times (GT) also tweeted short clips of Peng making appearances in public.

However, a spokesperson for WTA said the videos "did not alleviate or address" the association's concern about Peng's "well-being and ability to communicate without censorship or coercion", the NYT reported.

Chinese official's previous responses

Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, previously claimed on Nov. 15 that he had not heard of Peng's sexual allegations, according to AFP.

Responding to media queries at a press conference, he did not offer further comments after saying that it was "not a diplomatic question".

Then, on Nov. 23, Zhao said the controversy surrounding Peng's allegations had been "maliciously hyped up", the BBC reported.

"I think some people should stop deliberately and maliciously hyping (the issue) up, let alone politicise this issue," he said.

He also reiterated his claim that it was "not a diplomatic matter".

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Top image via WTA website & Zhizhao Wu/Getty Images