August 30, the International Day of the Disappeared, slipped by, and Peng Shuai remains disappeared. What follows are a few musings on the plight of the Chinese tennis star, offered in furtherance of the necessity of memory, and the importance of saying her name, in order to prevent her total erasure. We must continue asking: #WhereIsPengShuai? We have no idea, really, where she is (an anonymous source reportedly told the Women’s Tennis Association in April 2023 that Peng was “living safely with her family in Beijing”). We have not heard Peng’s independent, unmonitored voice. 

We must assume that Peng still exists in a state of unfreedom, otherwise, wouldn’t she be posting about the 21-year-old tennis phenom Zheng Qinwen winning the 2024 women’s singles Olympic gold medal–– the first Asian ever, female or male, to win an Olympic gold in singles tennis? The Chinese government has muzzled Peng ever since she posted explosive sexual assault allegations against former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli on Weibo in early November 2021. Her rare appearances since then have clearly been scripted and stage-managed. The WTA has seemingly forgotten her, too, despite the promise it made when the organization announced in April 2023 that it would resume tournament play in China, and that “Peng cannot be forgotten through this process.” 

We haven’t heard from the soon-to-be-stepping down IOC President Thomas Bach on Peng Shuai in quite a long time. There was an invitation for her to come to Lausanne, Switzerland at some point after the Beijing 2022 Winter Games when Covid-19 travel restrictions loosened, but her visit to the Olympic Capital never materialized. In any event, it would have been just another dog and pony show like the one staged in Beijing during the Winter Games, where Bach was seen together with Peng in an effort to show the world, on behalf of the Chinese government, that Peng was, in fact, not missing. Bach and Peng watched freeskiing sensation Eileen Gu win gold in the women’s Big Air event, and then Gu did her part in the “nothing-to-see-here” show, saying at the press conference following the final event that she was “really happy” that Peng had watched her compete, and “I’m really grateful that she’s, yeah, happy and healthy and out here doing her thing again,” Gu said.     

The propaganda services of Thomas Bach and Eileen Gu are no longer needed (although Bach is still helping the Chinese government on other matters). The world is forgetting about Peng Shuai, and now Zheng Qinwen, known as “Queen Wen” to her fans, is stealing the show. With Zheng’s remarkable ascendancy–– she is now ranked No. 7 in the world–– Peng Shuai’s role in helping to build tennis’ popularity in China and her disappearance will be eclipsed entirely by Zheng, because, among other things, Queen Wen has effectively been crowned by Xi Jinping himself.   

During Xi’s meeting with Chinese Olympians on August 20, he singled out two gold medalists by name whom he deemed especially worthy of praise: Zheng Qinwen and star swimmer Pan Zhanle; it was their comments upon winning gold that earned them Xi’s recognition. Pan dedicated his gold medal “to our great motherland,” and Zheng said “National honor always tops individual achievements.” The following day, CCTV filmed Zheng Qinwen expressing “pride” after meeting “Chairman Xi” and appreciation that he had mentioned her by name. (Zheng used the accurate term in Chinese for Xi , “Chairman” (主席), whereas the CCTV translators followed the CCP’s “politically correct” dictionary and used, inaccurately, “President” instead.)

Zheng is now one of Xi’s “chosen” ones and her popularity is taking off in China, and increasingly, beyond China. It’s unclear what the future may hold for Zheng vis-à-vis Peng: perhaps there will be staged encounters every now and then to “show” that Peng hasn’t disappeared? 

As Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim described Peng’s situation in late March 2023, “Where is Peng Shuai? remains both a hashtag and a troublingly unanswered question.” This is still true in early September 2024, but at this particular moment, the tennis world is focused on the final grand slam of the year, the US Open.  Zheng Qinwen has made it to the quarter-finals for a second time, where she’ll face No. 2 in the world, power-hitter Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Zheng in their previous two meetings. Zheng has been playing so well recently, buoyed by her Olympic gold (and Chairman Xi’s praise, perhaps?) as well as ardent Chinese fans in New York, it’s certainly possible she may end up taking the title this year. But regardless of the outcome, Zheng is looking at a very promising 2025. Peng Shuai, on the other hand, not so much.