Interesting. I just read a translation in full and I did find it different from what I had expected from reading past coverage on this issue. [0] I'm unsure if this is an accurate translation though.
Right? This is not the first time I've read it on the English media that Peng Shuai was accusing Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault either. I seriously wonder what is going on here. Don't get me wrong. I do think Peng Shuai cannot speak freely and something sketchy is going on. But putting words in her mouth is a rather strange way of trying to help her.
On the other hand, if she didn't make that specific accusation, then what she just said made sense. She didn't retract anything. She stands behind what she said in that Weibo post, just not the "sexual assault" part interpreted by the western media.
Sexual assualt is all kinds of sexual activity that occurs without consent. It doesn't matter if you eventually relented after you initially didn't consent, or if you consented to similar things beforehand.
In the case of Peng Shaui she did say that she felt forced into it when he took her to his house (带我去你家逼我和你发生关系). She said she initially didn't agree, and cried about it (我原本没有同意一直哭). After dinner he tried again, she said she refused again, and his response was to tell her that he hated her (我也并不愿意，你说恨我). Finally, scared and panicked (又怕又慌带), she agreed to have sex. This is at least emotional abuse. Perhaps eventually she "consented", but this should have stopped the first time she said no.
Regardless of whether you classify this as sexual assualt or "merely" sexual and/or emotional abuse, Zhang Gaoli was obviously using his position and power to pressure her into something she didn't want to do. The fact that they had a fling in the past and she still held complicated feelings for him at the encounter after his retirement doesn't change the fact that what he did was wrong. And many would argue that him even getting into the original relationship was wrong as well - an abuse of his privilege as a high-level government official, taking advantage of a much younger athlete who (as she admits) was lonely and desperate for someone to love her.
An incredibly high powered state official love bombing a young woman who had explicitly said no to sex until she relents sounds like sexual abuse to me!
On the other hand, if she didn't make that specific accusation, then what she just said made sense. She didn't retract anything. She stands behind what she said in that Weibo post, just not the "sexual assault" part interpreted by the western media.