Tennis star Peng Shuai has claimed that her sexual assault allegation against a former Chinese party leader was a "huge misunderstanding."
After claiming she was forced into sexual relations with Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli in a social media post, Peng deleted the post and was not seen for weeks, sparking enormous concern for her welfare.
Now, in an interview with French newspaper L'Equipe, she has once again denied that the assault took place.
BBC News reports that the interview took place under extremely controlled circumstances and likened it to a propaganda exercise.
Questions had to be submitted in advance and the conversation took place in the presence of a representative from China's Olympic Committee, who also translated all of the star's answers.
Peng thanked everyone for their concern over her wellbeing but also questioned why concern had been so "exaggerated."
"I would like to know: why such concern?... I never said anyone sexually assaulted me," she told the newspaper.
On November 2, Peng published a 1,600-word essay to the Chinese social media platform Weibo accusing the former Vice-Premier of forcing her to have sex with him.
The post - which was widely shared on Chinese social media - detailed her relationship with him and referred to at least one occasion when she was coerced into sexual relations. It was removed less than an hour after being posted.
Talking to L'Equipe, Peng denied that she had ever made such allegations and claimed that she had deleted the post herself.
"This post has given rise to a huge misunderstanding from the outside world," said the 36-year-old athlete. "I hope that the meaning of this post will no longer be twisted. And I also hope that we don't add more hype to this."
Peng went on to indicate that she was unlikely to continue playing tennis at a professional level due to her age and fitness.
"Considering my age, my multiple surgeries, and the pandemic that forced me to stop for so long, I believe it will be very difficult to regain my physical level," she said.
Following Peng's allegations, The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) called for her accusations to be investigated.
They also pulled all of their events from China in protest.
