When China’s leaders came under pressure to answer questions about the health and whereabouts of Peng Shuai, the Chinese tennis star, they turned to a friendly face.
They put Peng on a video call with members of the International Olympic Committee, a global sports organization that for years has turned a blind eye to Beijing’s human rights record. True to their reputation, IOC officials did not ask her about her claim that she had been sexually assaulted by a powerful former Communist Party leader, an allegation that led censors to scrub the details from the Chinese internet.
Perhaps no international organization has a more symbiotic relationship with Beijing. The Chinese government treats its growing success in sports as symbolic of the country’s rise as a global power. The 2008 Beijing Olympics helped transform the world’s image of China, a feat the government hopes to replicate next month when the Winter Olympics begin near the same city.