Peng Shuai and the limits of China’s #MeToo movement

China’s #MeToo movement has taken a step closer to the centre of power in Beijing, after sexual abuse allegations by a top Chinese tennis star were made against a man who until recently was one of Xi Jinping’s closest henchman at the pinnacle of Communist party rule.

The tennis star, Peng Shuai, made the allegations against Zhang Gaoli, who until 2018 was vice-president and a member of the seven-strong Standing Committee of the Party’s Politburo, the country’s highest ruling group.

Peng alleged in a post on her Weibo social media account that Zhang had assaulted her at the beginning of an affair that lasted from 2012 to 2017. The post was removed by censors within 20 minutes and Peng’s account was blocked, but users continued to share screenshots of her post. In a desperate attempt to prevent people finding her claims and to close down the conversation entirely, the censors reportedly added ‘tennis’ to a list of banned words online.

That sexual abuse allegations have reached the top of the Party will come as no surprise to those familiar with the male-dominated culture of power and impunity in China

Peng is extremely well-known in China.