Dharamshala, 22nd November: In the wake of the recent disappearance of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, Canada to explore a possible diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, according to a foreign affairs official. President Joe Biden announced this week that he is considering a diplomatic boycott of the Olympic Games next year during a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House.
Trudeau previously stated that Canada has discussed the Beijing Olympics with its international partners and friends. Calls for a boycott have previously been dismissed as “misguided” by David Shoemaker, the CEO, and secretary-general of the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Prior to Peng’s abduction, calls for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics were made in protest of China’s political actions in Hong Kong, as well as its treatment of minority communities such as Tibetans and Uyghurs.
After openly accusing Zhang Gaoli, 75, a former vice-premier and member of the ruling Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, of sexually abusing her, Peng’s whereabouts are currently unknown. On Nov. 2, Peng wrote a lengthy social media post claiming that she was forced to have sex with Zhang in his home three years ago despite her repeated refusals.
Although screenshots of her charges have been published online, the post was swiftly erased from her verified account on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
Peng, a former top-ranked player in women’s doubles who won titles at Wimbledon in 2013 and the French Open in 2014, stated Friday that the Chinese Foreign Ministry was unaware of the incident. She’s competed in three Olympic Games thus far.