- Peng Shuai vanished on November 2 after accusing a former Chinese official of sexual assault.
- Chinese state media has so far tried to quash the backlash with photos and statements.
Chinese state media agents are turning to releasing video footage of tennis star Peng Shuai going about her life as normal to quash concerns for her safety.
Peng, a former US Open semifinalist, vanished from view on November 2 after accusing the country's former vice-premier, Zhang Gaoli, of sexual assault.
Tennis stars and Steve Simon, the head of the Women's Tennis Association, have led calls for China to explain what had happened to Peng. On Friday, the White House said President Joe Biden wants "verifiable proof" of her whereabouts.
In response, Chinese state media has sought to pour cold water on those concerns, with limited success.
On Wednesday, the state-run CGTN network released a letter that it said was written by Peng, in which she retracted her claim against Gao. The following day Shen Shiwei, a senior editor at the state-run CGTN network, posted images of Peng smiling and posing with her cat, which he said Peng had just posted to her WeChat account.
However, critics said the images don't prove her safety, or sufficiently justify her apparent retraction against Zhang.
Now, Chinese state media have turned to sharing footage of Peng to Twitter, which is officially banned in China.
On Friday, Hu Xijin, the editor of the state-run Global Times newspaper, tweeted footage of what he said was Peng eating dinner with her friends and coach at a Beijing restaurant on Saturday.
Moments later, he tweeted a second video of Peng turning around and looking happy and surprised when confronted by the person recording her.
On Sunday, Hu posted a new video of a smiling Peng being introduced at a teenage tennis tournament in Beijing. Hu said Peng had just "showed up" at the event.
Later that day, Qingqing Chen, a chief reporter at the Global Times, tweeted a second video of Peng at the tennis event, this time showing her signing a giant tennis ball.
Peng reportedly held a 30-minute call with Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, on Sunday in which she asked for her privacy to be respected.
However, the WTA said the video has not dispelled their concerns for her safety.
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