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 

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 

Zhang Gaoli, who was the senior Vice Premier of the 

State Council of the People’s Republic of China from 

2013 to 2018; 


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•SRES 503 IS 

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; 

Whereas, on November 19, 2021, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the White House is ‘‘deeply concerned’’ over Peng’s disappearance and seeks ‘‘indeVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:07 Feb 03, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR503.IS SR503

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•SRES 503 IS 

pendent 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 

violence in China remains a serious issue, and highly 

publicized cases of sexual assault continue to surface; 


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•SRES 503 IS 

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.’’; 

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; and 

Whereas athletes from the around the world will be competing in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing in 

February 2022: 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 of athletes participating in the 

5 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing; 

6 (2) the failure of the International Olympic 

7 Committee to clearly and forcefully challenge the 

8 claims of the Government of the People’s Republic 

9 of China concerning Peng’s safety raise questions 

10 about the ability and willingness of the International 


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•SRES 503 IS 

1 Olympic Committee to stand up for the human 

2 rights of athletes participating in the 2022 Olympic 

3 and Paralympic games in Beijing; 

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

5 China would help reduce concerns about athlete 

6 safety at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing 

7 by assuring Peng’s freedom and safety and inves8 tigating her allegations in a fair and transparent 

9 manner; 

10 (4) the Government of the People’s Republic of 

11 China should immediately take steps to— 

12 (A) provide independent and verifiable 

13 proof of Peng’s whereabouts and that she is 

14 safe; 

15 (B) allow Peng to engage directly with the 

16 Women’s Tennis Association and the United 

17 Nations to independently verify her safety and 

18 explain her absence from public life since mak19 ing her allegation; 

20 (C) open an independent and transparent 

21 investigation into Peng’s allegations against 

22 former senior Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli; 

23 (D) publicly commit to hold sexual violence 

24 abusers accountable; 


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1 (E) cease all censorship of reporting and 

2 discussions of Peng’s case; and 

3 (F) allow Peng to leave China if she so de4 sires and prevent any retaliation against family 

5 members remaining there; 

6 (5) by failing to clearly and forcefully challenge 

7 the Chinese Communist Party’s narrative, the Inter8 national Olympic Committee has failed to uphold its 

9 own stated commitments with regard to ‘‘[r]espect 

10 for international conventions on protecting human 

11 rights’’, as outlined in the Code of Ethics of the 

12 International Olympic Committee; 

13 (6) the conduct of the International Olympic 

14 Committee runs counter to efforts by the United 

15 States Government, human rights organizations, the 

16 Women’s Tennis Association, and other international 

17 bodies and individuals to secure Peng’s safety; and 

18 (7) in an effort to regain lost public confidence, 

19 the International Olympic Committee should publicly 

20 call on the Government of the People’s Republic of 

21 China to undertake the actions called for in para22 graph (4). 

Æ 


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