Source: Politics<\/p>\n
BEIJING \u2014 Missing Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai told Olympic officials in a video call from Beijing that she was safe and well, the International Olympic Committee said Sunday after Peng reappeared in public at a youth tournament in Beijing, according to photos released by the organizer.<\/p>\n
The 30-minute call came amid growing global alarm over Peng after she accused a former leading Communist Party official of sexual assault. China\u2019s ruling Communist Party has tried to quell fears abroad while suppressing information in China about Peng.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s call \u2014 with IOC president Thomas Bach, athletes commission chair Emma Terho and IOC member Li Lingwei, a former vice president of the Chinese Tennis Association \u2014 appears to be Peng\u2019s first direct contact with sports officials outside China since she disappeared from public view on Nov. 2.<\/p>\n
Peng \u201cthanked the IOC for its concern about her well-being,\u201d the Switzerland-based Olympic body said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe explained that she is safe and well, living at her home in Beijing, but would like to have her privacy respected at this time. That is why she prefers to spend her time with friends and family right now,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
Peng, who played for China at three Olympics from 2008 to 2016, made the sexual assault allegation on Chinese social media three weeks ago against a former member of the Communist Party\u2019s ruling Standing Committee, Zhang Gaoli.<\/p>\n
That post was removed within minutes and the former top-ranked doubles player went missing from public view. She did not respond publicly to calls for information to show she was safe.<\/p>\n