China’s state-owned CCTV company will release a video of Taiwanese star Peng Shuai being hit by a car on Aug. 1, state media reported Thursday.
The report by People’s Daily said Peng Shuai crashed into a taxi after leaving a bus stop, and CCTV then began shooting and filming the aftermath of the accident. The report said a person, who may be Peng Shuai’s aunt, was behind the wheel of the taxi. CCTV didn’t identify the person who shot the video.
The report said the footage would be released Friday, but at least one other Chinese media outlet is also reporting that it will be shown Friday.
One of Peng Shuai’s China Tennis Association officials told People’s Daily that the video is authentic, and that Peng Shuai is OK.
“We expect that it will be shared widely and will show details that should be investigated. We hope this matter can be handled in a reasonable and objective manner,” she said.
Huang Jing, a close friend of Peng Shuai’s, told the Beijing Morning Post that Peng Shuai has seen the video and doesn’t remember the incident.
The report said the CCTV footage did not show Peng Shuai leaving the bus stop, but only focused on the site after the accident. The Herald News said the CCTV footage has been viewed more than 1 million times on YouTube.
Meanwhile, Hu Mingfen, an official of Taiwan’s Elton Yip Association, said Peng Shuai appears to have collided with a taxi from behind, but the sideview camera did not capture the collision itself. There was no sign that she had struck another vehicle, Hu said.
Peng Shuai’s China Tennis Association has not responded to requests for comment from The Washington Post. Taiwan is claimed by China as a wayward province that will one day be reunited with the mainland.
A source with knowledge of the matter, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Washington Post that Peng Shuai and several other Taiwanese tennis players had been invited by a sponsor to visit China for a special training camp in Beijing.
The source said that Peng Shuai was surprised that another participant in the camp, Andrea Seppi, of Italy, provided a ride to Hong Kong. The source said that while Peng Shuai could not return to Taiwan with the other Taiwanese tennis players, the driver provided a ride for Seppi.
Taiwanese tennis players aren’t allowed to practice in Taiwan for security reasons, and are required to stay in a hotel in China before moving on to a rival Asian country.
The Washington Post