Women’s tennis takes a stand against China

IN THE WORLD of sport, it was a remarkable rebuke of China’s ruling Communist Party. On December 1st the Florida-based Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said it would stop holding tournaments in mainland China and Hong Kong in response to the silencing of Peng Shuai, a Chinese tennis star, after she had publicly accused a former senior Chinese leader of sexual assault. Steve Simon, the WTA’s boss, used language typical of human-rights groups, not of firms with profits at stake. He accused China’s leadership of failing to handle the matter credibly: “I have serious doubts that she is free, safe and not subject to censorship, coercion and intimidation.”

For years most executives of global sporting leagues, as well as athletes with high profiles in China, have strained to avoid offending Chinese officials lest they lose access to a lucrative market. But as China’s human-rights abuses have become more egregious, the reputational risk of keeping quiet has grown. In November the International Olympic Committee held a video call with Ms Peng and gave a sunny assessment of her well-being. It was widely viewed as a craven effort to help China stifle controversy in the buildup to the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February. America’s National Basketball Association (NBA) has tried to keep on China’s good side since a team executive’s tweet in 2019, expressing support for protests in Hong Kong, prompted a temporary ban in China on NBA broadcasts. Adam Silver, the NBA’s chief, said the episode cost the league hundreds of millions of dollars.