III 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 503 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Government of the People’s 

Republic of China should immediately guarantee the safety and freedom 

of tennis star Peng Shuai. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2022 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. WARNER, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. BROWN, 

Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. 

VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. COTTON, Mr. 

WARNOCK, Mr. JOHNSON, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

APRIL 4 (legislative day, MARCH 31), 2022 

Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, with an amendment and an amendment to the 

preamble 

APRIL 7, 2022 

Considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Government 

of the People’s Republic of China should immediately 

guarantee the safety and freedom of tennis star Peng 

Shuai. 

Whereas, on November 2, 2021, 3-time Olympian Peng Shuai 

went missing after she said in a since-deleted post on 

Chinese social media site Weibo that she had been sexually assaulted and forced into a sexual relationship with 


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Zhang Gaoli, who was the senior Vice Premier of the 

State Council of the People’s Republic of China from 

2013 to 2018; 

Whereas authorities of the People’s Republic of China imposed a media and internet blackout of discussions of 

Peng’s case; 

Whereas, on November 14, 2021, after Peng had not been 

seen or heard from for 12 days, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Women’s Tennis Association Steve 

Simon requested a ‘‘full, fair, and transparent’’ investigation into Peng’s allegations; 

Whereas the hashtag ‘‘#WhereIsPengShuai’’ trended across 

social media worldwide, with the exception of the People’s 

Republic of China where it was censored; 

Whereas, on November 17, 2021, the Women’s Tennis Association received a statement purporting to be from Peng, 

recanting her abuse claim and saying ‘‘everything is 

fine’’; 

Whereas, in response, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer 

of the Women’s Tennis Association Steve Simon said the 

statement ‘‘released today by Chinese state media concerning Peng Shuai only raises my concerns as to her 

safety and whereabouts’’; 

Whereas the International Olympic Committee said in a 

statement that it was ‘‘encouraged by assurances that 

she is safe’’; 

Whereas, on November 19 and 20, 2021, photos and videos 

of Peng appearing in her home, in a restaurant, and at 

a youth tennis event in Beijing emerged on Twitter accounts affiliated with government-run media; 


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Whereas, on November 19, 2021, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the White House is ‘‘deeply concerned’’ over Peng’s disappearance and seeks ‘‘independent and verifiable proof’’ of her location and condition; 

Whereas, on November 19, 2021, Liz Throssell, the spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for 

Human Rights, told reporters ‘‘. . . it would be important to have proof of her whereabouts and wellbeing, and 

we would urge that there be an investigation with full 

transparency into her allegations of sexual assault’’; 

Whereas, on November 21, 2021, the International Olympic 

Committee said in a statement that its President, Thomas Bach, had a 30-minute video call with Peng, joined by 

a Chinese sports official and an official of the International Olympic Committee; 

Whereas the statement said that, during the call, Peng appeared to be ‘‘doing fine’’ and appeared ‘‘relaxed’’, and 

said she ‘‘would like to have her privacy respected’’; 

Whereas the International Olympic Committee did not explain how the video call with Peng had been organized, 

given the difficulties other concerned parties have had 

reaching her; 

Whereas, on November 30, 2021, in an interview with CNN, 

International Olympic Committee official Dick Pound defended the handling of the situation by the Government 

of the People’s Republic of China and said the ‘‘unanimous conclusion’’ by International Olympic Committee 

officials on the call is that Peng Shuai is ‘‘fine’’; 

Whereas the annual report of the Congressional-Executive 

Commission on China for 2020 finds that gender-based 


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violence in China remains a serious issue, and highly 

publicized cases of sexual assault continue to surface; 

Whereas, on December 1, 2021, the Women’s Tennis Association suspended all Women’s Tennis Association tournaments in China and Hong Kong; 

Whereas Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Women’s Tennis Association Steve Simon stated, ‘‘In good 

conscience, I don’t see how I can ask our athletes to compete there when Peng Shuai is not allowed to communicate freely and has seemingly been pressured to contradict her allegation of sexual assault. Given the current 

state of affairs, I am also greatly concerned about the 

risks that all of our players and staff could face if we 

were to hold events in China in 2022.’’; and 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

has repeatedly detained ‘‘#MeToo’’ activists in China 

and censored online and public discussion around sexual 

assault and harassment: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) the case of Peng Shuai is directly related to 

3 broader international concerns around the freedom 

4 of speech and safety in China; 

5 (2) the failure of the International Olympic 

6 Committee to clearly and forcefully challenge the 

7 claims of the Government of the People’s Republic 

8 of China concerning Peng’s safety raises questions 

9 about the ability and willingness of the International 

10 Olympic Committee to stand up for the human 

11 rights of athletes participating in the Olympic and 


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1 Paralympic games in Beijing, as well as in future 

2 games; 

3 (3) the Government of the People’s Republic of 

4 China should immediately take steps to— 

5 (A) allow Peng to provide independent and 

6 verifiable proof of her own whereabouts and 

7 safety without retribution; 

8 (B) allow Peng to engage directly with the 

9 Women’s Tennis Association and the United 

10 Nations to independently verify her safety and 

11 explain her absences from public life since mak12 ing her allegation; 

13 (C) open an independent and transparent 

14 investigation into Peng’s allegations against 

15 former senior Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli; 

16 (D) publicly commit to hold sexual violence 

17 abusers accountable; 

18 (E) cease all censorship of reporting and 

19 discussions of Peng’s case; and 

20 (F) allow Peng to leave China if she so de21 sires and prevent any retaliation against family 

22 members remaining there; 

23 (4) the International Olympic Committee, by 

24 failing to clearly and forcefully challenge the Chinese 

25 Communist Party’s narrative, has failed to uphold 


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1 its own stated commitments with regard to 

2 ‘‘[r]espect for international conventions on pro3 tecting human rights’’, as outlined in the Code of 

4 Ethics of the International Olympic Committee, and 

5 runs counter to efforts by the United States Govern6 ment, human rights organizations, the Women’s 

7 Tennis Association, and other international bodies 

8 and individuals to secure Peng’s safety; 

9 (5) to regain lost public confidence, the Inter10 national Olympic Committee should publicly call on 

11 the Government of the People’s Republic of China to 

12 undertake the actions called for in paragraph (3); 

13 and 

14 (6) to demonstrate commitment to Olympic ath15 letes and their human rights, the International 

16 Olympic Committee should deny the ability of the 

17 People’s Republic of China to serve as an Olympic 

18 Games host nation or to bid to become a future 

19 Olympic Games host nation until the Government of 

20 the People’s Republic of China ceases its horrific 

21 abuses of internationally recognized human rights, 

22 including the genocide against the Uyghurs and 

23 other Muslim minorities, and undertakes the actions 

24 called for in paragraph (3). 

Æ 


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