Peng Shuai says allegation was “enormous misunderstanding”

By JOHN LEICESTER

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai has spoken to a French newspaper about the social media posting that sparked a storm of international concern over her well-being. L’Equipe said it spoke to the tennis player on Sunday in a Beijing hotel, in an hour-long interview organized through China’s Olympic committee. Peng told the newspaper she never accused a Chinese official of sexual assault. Peng also said that her post in November had been taken out of context and led to “an enormous misunderstanding.” In that post, Peng wrote that Zhang Gaoli, a former vice premier and member of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee, had forced her to have sex despite repeated refusals