(Minghui.org) A Chinese tennis superstar’s recent sexual assault accusation against a former vice premier has caught the world’s attention. Many people have viewed the scandal as retribution for that official’s other, bigger crimes.

Peng Shuai, 35, is one of China’s tennis superstars. She won the women’s doubles championship at Wimbledon in 2013 and at the French Open in 2014. She published a long article on her verified account on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, on November 2, accusing Zhang Gaoli of sexually assaulting her.

Zhang, 75, was a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Politburo Standing Committee – the CCP’s top decision-making body – and the senior vice premier, from 2012 to 2017.

Peng accused Zhang of first sexually assaulting her many years ago, between 2007 and 2012, when Zhang was Party Secretary of Tianjin City. Zhang used his power to force her to maintain an on-and-off sexual relationship with him against her will.

Falun Gong practitioners protested against Zhang Gaoli in front of the United Nations’ (UN) headquarters in New York when Zhang attended the UN Weather Summit on September 23, 2014.

The contact stopped after Zhang moved to Beijing in 2013 to become China’s senior vice premier. Zhang then reached out to her again in 2018 after he retired. Zhang and his wife took her to their home one day. Zhang, in front of his wife, requested to have sex with her. Zhang took her inside a room while his wife stood guard outside the room.

“I was scared that afternoon,” Peng wrote, “I had never thought it would be like this. (Zhang’s wife) stood guard outside [while he sexually assaulted me inside the room]. I thought no one could believe that a wife would be willing to do something like this.”

Her post survived 20 minutes before being deleted. All of the re-posts and related comments were deleted. But it had already sent a shock wave to the Chinese people and the world. Many English media, including the New York Times, CBC, and BBC, reported the case.

The Chinese authorities did not deny or say a word about this accusation. It just kept deleting posts. It has long been an open secret that the CCP officials have corrupt sex lives.

Zhang is now a “scumbag” in the Chinese people’s eyes, having his wife guard his raping of a woman who was 40 years his junior.

To many people, this may be the start of Zhang having to answer for his other crimes. Zhang’s biggest crime was his involvement in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

Youth Front Today, the second-largest newspaper in Czechia, reported that Zhang Gaoli was responsible for the torture and persecution of Falun Gong, when Zhang led the Chinese delegation to attend the China Investment Forum conference in Prague, Czech Republic on August 28-29, 2014.

Falun Gong is an ancient mind-body Buddhist school practice. Former CCP head Jiang Zemin launched the persecution of the practice in July 1999.

Zhang was an active enforcer of Jiang’s persecution policy during his tenure in Guangdong Province, Shandong Province, and Tianjin. He actively implemented the persecution policy, resulting in thousands of Falun Gong practitioners in these areas being arrested, detained, and sentenced. He was a culprit in the torture that caused a large number of deaths and disabilities of Falun Gong practitioners.

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