The WTA returns to in China

More than a year ago, I wrote a blogpost about the decision made by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to leave China, after the disappearance of former top tennis player Peng Shuai within China. Peng had spoken out on Weibo about Zhang Gaoli, a former member of the Communist Party’s Politburo, and how he had continuously sexually abused here. Peng’s story was quickly censured and the subsequent discussion about what she had been through—and about #MeToo, or 米兔 (mitu) more broadly—were not allowed on social media. The WTA, concerned for Peng’s safety, decided to cancel its tennis tournaments in China, demanding the safe return to public life of Peng and a government investigation into Peng’s allegations.

As was clear by March 2022, the Chinese government had not moved an inch on the issue, and now, in April 2023, it still has not. It also will not: the message that the Communist Party will not allow this kind of allegation towards top-ranking officials, fearing similar allegations might end up targeting those even higher in the hierarchy (read: Xi Jinping), is loud and clear. This is certainly not a surprise, and was widely expected in the weeks after Peng’s disappearance. This also made the WTA’s decision the more commendable.

The WTA says that it has some contact with Peng's family, and is confident that she is able to live her life in Beijing.

On 13 April 2023, the WTA announced on its website that in the second half of this year, women’s tennis will return to China. It argues that “[w]hile we do not regret our decision on the suspension, the WTA and its members feel that now is the time to return to our mission in China. We are hopeful that by returning more progress can be made,” pointing out that it was clear that its initial, twofold demand would never be met.

Unsurprisingly, especially in the current heated public discourse on the West’s relationship with China, criticism of the WTA’s decision abound. The important Tennis Podcast expressed their utter disappointment, even suggesting it would be good for the WTA chief executive to resign, and wondering whether top players would now be willing to boycot Chinese tournaments themselves. Tumaini Carayol of The Guardian concluded that “[t]ennis’s support for Peng Shuai has turned to dust with WTA’s China U-turn.”

In my view, the decision by the WTA is understandable for multiple reasons. First, as I noted in March 2022, “the WTA [was] the only international organisation that publicly expresse[d] its sorrow over Peng’s situation” and thus “still stands alone.” It seems clear that before making the decision to pull out of China, the WTA in their deliberations expected that their action would be followed by others; solidarity would have seemed probable from organizations like the male tennis players’ association (ATP), the International Tennis Federation (ITF), or others. But although supportive statements were publicized, no other association or organisation joined the boycot. This is regrettable, since a boycot by the WTA alone clearly would not be sufficient to alter any calculations within the Communist Party. Thus, if people are disappointed in the WTA’s decision, they should look at other organisations who did nothing, first.

Second, there is no good solution for this problem, so blaming the WTA is too easy. They tried, at least. The situations in which sports events coincide with human rights abuses and the ways in which to handle this are still debated, as there is no ‘quick fix’ to simultaneously admonish a government for the abuses, guarantee that the practice of the abuses is ended, and bring the country’s people into much-needed contact with these sports. It just does not work this way, as not only China, but also states like Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, and even the U.S. have shown. Indeed, withdrawing women’s tennis tournaments from China (a country with 1.4 billion people, that is) has its downsides, too. Most importantly, it is of much value to present such a popular sport to an audience of hundreds of millions of young people, especially girls, who can be inspired to take up tennis and develop their talents. These young people have nothing to do with Zhang Gaoli or other Communist Party officials; is it right to take away their opportunity to interact with the sport?

Third, and relatedly, China presents a major audience for women’s tennis, with large audiences at tennis tournaments and significant television viewership. It is no secret that the WTA has money problems, and leaving China meant a disastrous financial hit. In the end, the organisation also needs to get back to financial health in order to ensure a good tournament calendar and sufficient support for athletes. For this, also, the WTA cannot be blamed.

In short, I am hesitant to call the WTA’s decision a great disillusionment, because I understand that there were no good options here. The WTA was alone in this matter. If others had offered more forceful support, that would not have been the case, and the situation might have been different. I also do not think this makes the initial decision to pull out of China a farce—to the contrary, I still think it is commendable. It does, however, also make painfully clear how difficult it is to stand up against (perceived) unjustice in the increasingly powerful and rich countries that do not share an understanding of human (and especially women’s) rights. How to manage this going forward remains a very important topic of debate.

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