Singapore — Lianhe Zaobao’s surprise interview with China’s tennis star Peng Shuai has focused western media attention on the China-based writer who got the scoop.
The six-minute video clip posted on Dec 20 on the Chinese-language Singapore daily’s Chinese and English sites continues to spark controversy since it carries Ms Peng’s claim that her Nov 2 public accusation of sexual abuse was not an accusation.
Her denial has shifted the spotlight onto Gabbie Gu who is also known as Gu Gonglei, formerly Shanghai correspondent for Zaobao. Her current designation, is general manager for
Peng set off a media firestorm last month when she all but vanished from view minutes after publicly accusing one of China’s top officials Zhang Gaoli of pressuring her into having sex at his home in 2018, the year Zhang ended his five-year stint as China’s senior vice-premier.
Here is a screengrab of her Weibo post on Nov 2, which happened to be the day after Zhang’s 75th birthday. It went online at 10:07pm and vanished after about 20 min.
An English translation of her post is found in full on What’s on Weibo and includes the following excerpt:
“I know I can’t say it clearly and that it’s useless to say. But I want to say it anyway. I’m such a hypocrite. I’ll admit I’m not a good girl, I’m a bad bad girl. About three years ago, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, you had retired and asked Dr. Liu from the Tianjin Tennis Center to contact me again to play tennis at the Kang Ming Hotel in Beijing. After we finished playing in the afternoon, you and your wife Kang Jie took me with you to your home. You then took me to your room, and like what happened in Tianjin over ten years ago, you wanted to have sex with me.”
Not only was her post erased, but all other mentions of her on social media were deleted as well.
Peng then disappeared from the public eye, leading to calls of alarm over her personal safety.
The International Olympic Committee then held two video conference calls with Peng, on Nov 21 and Dec 2, during which Peng was said to have confirmed that she was fine. During one call, IOC President Thomas Bach invited Peng to dinner when he goes to Beijing in January.
But neither event dampened speculation about Peng. Video of the calls was not released; only this still below.
Then came Monday (Dec 20) and Peng surfaced in the Zaobao interview.
In the video clip accompanying the story, she says, “I have never said or written that anyone sexually assaulted me. This point must be emphasised very clearly.”
She also says without elaboration that there had been “a lot of misunderstandings” about her Nov 2 post.
When asked if she was under surveillance, the tennis star expressed surprise and said: “Why would anyone monitor [me] [I have] always been very free.”
But on social media, the Zaobao reporter’s credibility was being queried. On the mainland, Zaobao has correspondents in Beijing, Chongqing, and Guangzhou, and according to its website, is one of the few foreign-owned Chinese-language media that is accessible in China.
A BBC report observed that Zaobao is known for its pro-Beijing coverage.
Mark Dreyer of China Sports Insider noted that the reporter is actually a sales representative for Lianhe Zaobao in Shanghai.
“Strange person to be conducting the interview,” he tweeted.
Here's another "scoop" – turns out the reporter is no such thing. She jumped from editorial to the business side more than five years ago and is currently a sales representative for Lianhe Zaobao in Shanghai. Strange person to be conducting the interview…🤔 https://t.co/SlLcJKBRAM
— Mark Dreyer (@DreyerChina) December 20, 2021
BBC reporter Zhaoyin Feng said that while Gu Gonglei had made the move into sales and marketing in 2017, Gu continues to write stories for Lianhe Zaobao.
But the line between editorial and sales is blurred. “A recent piece” written by Gu “praises Xiamen – you wouldn’t know it’s sponsored by the Xiamen Publicity Dept. until reading it to the very end,” Feng added.
According to Gu Gonglei's Linkedin, she switched to Lianhe Zaobao's sales side in 2017, but she continues to pen stories. A recent piece praises Xiamen – you wouldn't know it's sponsored by the Xiamen Publicity Dept. until reading it to the very end. https://t.co/R9sAAdXa8k https://t.co/KlB0tphbtM pic.twitter.com/H7uBZNPhVs
— Zhaoyin Feng 馮兆音 (@ZhaoyinFeng) December 20, 2021
“This article is brought to you by the Xiamen Publicity Department,’ the last line in bold states. But the piece is categorised as ‘News | China’ at the top. Same with the second piece in this Xiamen series – it shows up in Lianhe Zaobao’s news section,” she wrote in a second tweet.
Zhaoyin added: “Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao in recent years has been known for its pro-Beijing coverage. But I did not know a Singaporean newspaper can now publish stories sponsored by a Chinese propaganda arm. Any cases in other outlets?”
As the media storm refused to subside, Chinese state media released on Nov 17 a screenshot of an email purportedly from Peng, denying her own allegations of assault and saying that “everything is fine”.
Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams and other international tennis stars have gone public about Peng, and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said it would axe China tournaments if there was no adequate response to Peng’s allegations.
The WTA continues to express concern that Peng is being muffled by Beijing. “We remain steadfast in our call for a full, fair and transparent investigation… into her allegation of sexual assault, which is the issue that gave rise to our initial concern.”
/TISG
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Even GOAT Serena Williams is looking for missing Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai