Friday, 19 November 2021

#WhereIsPengShuai: Tennis world shows it's OK not to remain silent over China

China's Peng Shuai, shown here in action at the AEGON Classic in Birmingham in 2011/PA Images

Forget about the white lines. When it comes to tennis China might have just crossed a red one. That has been the lesson from the disappearance of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai.

Two weeks ago the Wimbledon doubles winner vanished after she made sexual assault allegations against a top Chinese government official. For those familiar with China, the plot unfolded much like other #MeToo stories there – victim speaks up only to be quickly silenced. But since then, the story has taken an unusual turn, writes Jemimah Steinfeld.

Hong Kong’s freedoms under further attack as ‘Captain America’ is jailed

Photo: David Coulson / Alamy Stock Photo

A former food delivery worker who would turn up at protests in Hong Kong with the Marvel superhero’s instantly recognisable shield has been convicted for violating the country’s national security law and sentenced to five years and nine months in prison, writes Chris Yeung. It is a sign of increasing restrictions on freedom in the country.

Marighella's delayed release shows censorship is alive and well in Brazil

Brazil's Constitution outlaws censorship but Bolsonaro's government has ways to apply pressure on film directors, says film critic Luiz Gustavo Vilela in the wake of the delayed release of a biopic on the life of Carlos Marighella.

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