#WhereIsPengShuai is a

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

, used mainly in social media, and a

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

campaign to raise awareness about the disappearance of Chinese tennis athlete,

Peng Shuai Peng Shuai (; born 8 January 1986) is a Chinese retired professional tennis player. In February 2014, she was ranked world No. 1 doubles player by the WTA, becoming the first Chinese tennis player to achieve that ranking (in either single ...

(彭帥).

Purpose of the hashtag

On November 2, 2021, Chinese tennis player, Peng Shuai, wrote in a social media post that politician

Zhang Gaoli Zhang Gaoli or Chang Kao-li ( zh, 张高丽; ; born 1 November 1946) is a retired Chinese politician. He served as the senior Vice Premier of the State Council between 2013 and 2018 and as a member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo S ...

had sexually assaulted her three years previously. Approximately 30 minutes later the post disappeared and references to Peng Shuai disappeared from China's internet. The hashtag, #WhereIsPengShuai (Where is Peng Shuai?), first appeared on Twitter on November 12, 2021. The next day, French professional tennis player Alize Cornet tweeted, "Let's not remain silent #WhereIsPengShuai". The hashtag was then quickly picked up and used by the tennis community and others to call attention to the

disappearance of Peng Shuai The disappearance of Peng Shuai occurred after 2 November 2021 when tennis star Peng Shuai accused former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault three years earlier. Peng and Zhang had purportedly been involved in an extramarital af ...

. Among those who did this in the following couple of days were

Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954), known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record s ...

Nicolas Mahut Nicolas Pierre Armand Mahut (; born 21 January 1982) is a French professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having completed the career Grand Slam with victories at th ...

Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles. Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam singles champi ...

Stan Wawrinka Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 3 for the first time on 27 January 2014. His career highlight ...

and

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) fo ...

Australian Open

During the

2022 Australian Open The 2022 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, Australia from 17 to 30 January 2022. It was the 110th edition of the Australian Open, the 54th in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the ye ...

, on 22 January, fans wearing t-shirts with the slogan "Where is Peng Shuai?" were asked to remove their shirts. A police officer at the scene was recorded saying, "The Australian Open does have a rule that you can't have political slogans ... it's a rule that it's a condition of entry."

Tennis Australia Tennis Australia Limited is the governing body for Tennis in Australia. It is owned by Australian states and territories. The association organises national and international Tennis tournaments including the Australian Open, the Australian Open S ...

backed up the police response. Later, Martina Navratilova stated, "I find it really, really cowardly. I think they are wrong on this. This is not a political statement, this is a human rights statement." After an international outcry, Tennis Australian chief

Craig Tiley Craig Tiley (born 1962) is a South African tennis executive and retired U.S. college tennis coach. Tiley is the current CEO of Tennis Australia, which is the governing body that oversees tennis in Australia. He is also the Director of the Aust ...

reversed the decision and said fans are free to wear the t-shirts. However, signs on poles or "mobs" would not be allowed. In response to the t-shirt controversy, a Chinese spokesman said, "The politicisation of sports will not succeed and will not gain support from the majority of people, including sportsmen and women, in the international community."

Multilingual use of the hashtag

The hashtag appeared as #OùEstPengShuai in French media and #DondeEstaPengShuai in Spanish media.

China's response to the hashtag

The name Peng Shuai was censored in China within 30 minutes of a social media post authored by Peng Shuai accusing former vice premier

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, whi ...

. It is therefore assumed the hashtag, #WhereIsPengShuai remains unknown to Chinese citizens.

References

{{Reflist Hashtags Enforced disappearances in China Tennis controversies Articles titled with a question