Activist vows to continue Peng Shuai protest after controversial action from Tennis Australia

Activists asked to remove their shirts at the Australian Open say they’ll continue their campaign demanding information on the whereabouts of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai.

In early November, the Chinese player accused a senior Chinese Communist Party official of sexual assault then disappeared from public life for months, sparking international concern for her welfare and leading the Women’s Tennis Association to suspend tournaments in China in 2022.

Peng has since been seen in videos and photos shared by Chinese state media but there are concerns the star is unable to move and speak freely.

Over the weekend, Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner Max Mok and another activist attended the tennis with a banner and t-shirts featuring Peng Shuai’s face on a wanted poster and the words ‘Where’s Peng Shuai?’ on the back.

They were approached by security, had their banner confiscated and were asked to remove their shirts.

Mr Mok says things “escalated quickly” and the police were called.

“Initially, for like a good 10 minutes, the Australian Open officials wouldn’t stop talking about how it’s within their legal rights … and they are allowed to confiscate it,” he told Neil Mitchell.

“The police officer … he took the security guards that were threatening us to a corner and had a good chat with them and we ended with the compromise of us being able to stay at the venue but we had to keep our banner at the cloakroom until we left, and we had to basically button up our jackets so that nothing shows.”

BREAKING – Australian Open security call in police on human rights activists @pakchoi_boi @maxmokchito for wearing “Free Peng Shuai” shirts, try force @pakchoi_boi to take off shirt in public area right next to @naomiosaka training session – the most vocal athlete on Peng Shuai pic.twitter.com/qAPPmEJEZt

— Drew Pavlou For Senate (@DrewPavlou) January 21, 2022

Tennis Australia has come under fire for its heavy-handed approach.

It says the action was taken because the tournament doesn’t allow clothing or banners that are commercial or political, and maintains Peng Shuai’s safety is its “primary concern”.

Mr Mok says he intends to wear the shirt to the Australian Open again, and he hopes many others will too.

“In the finals we’ll print about 1000 t-shirts … and then we’ll just distribute it. We’ll see how many people they can stop from going to the tennis matches,” he said.

Press PLAY below to hear Mr Mok’s account of how the incident unfolded

Image: Twitter / @badiucao