An outcry over the whereabouts of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai escalated on Friday as the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) said it was prepared to pull its tournaments out of China over the issue, prompting an influential Chinese state media editor to criticise the organisation for using a "coercive tone".

Former doubles world number one Peng has not been seen or heard from publicly since she said on Chinese social media on Nov. 2 that former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli coerced her into sex and they later had an on-off consensual relationship.

Neither Zhang or the Chinese government have commented on her allegation. Peng's social media post was quickly deleted and the topic has been blocked from discussion on China's heavily censored internet.

Concern among the global tennis community and beyond has grown over Peng's safety and whereabouts since her allegation, with the WTA calling for an investigation. Some of the world's top tennis players, including Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, as well as the German Olympic Committee have tweeted #WhereIsPengShuai.

The issue has also emerged as China prepares to host the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February amid calls from global rights groups and others for a boycott over its human rights record. The International Olympic Committee has declined to comment on Peng's matter, saying it believed "quiet diplomacy" offered the best opportunity for a solution.

WTA Chief Executive Steve Simon told various U.S. media outlets on Thursday the tour would consider pulling tournaments worth tens of millions of dollars out of China.

"We're definitely willing to pull our business and deal with all the complications that come with it," he told CNN in an interview.

"Because this is certainly, this is bigger than the business. Women need to be respected and not censored."

Hu Xijin, the editor of the Global Times, responded to Simon's comments on Friday on Twitter, saying "don't use a coercive tone when expressing any concern to China."

"Perhaps you did it out of goodwill. But you should understand China, including understanding how the system you dislike has promoted the actual rights of the 1.4 billion Chinese," said Hu, whose newspaper is published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily.

The WTA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Hu's tweet.

HEAVILY CENSORED IN CHINA

The hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai has so far racked up over 32 million mentions on Facebook's (FB.O) Instagram and Twitter, according to hashtag analysis website BrandMentions. Both platforms are blocked in China.

In contrast, the topic remains heavily censored in China's tightly controlled cyberspace. As of Friday, searches for the WTA's official account on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform yielded no results although its account remained available. Peng's name on Weibo also continues to show no search results.

Peng had not been seen or heard from since her post until Wednesday, when the WTA's Simon said he had received an email purporting to be from Peng and denying the allegations of sexual assault, which he cast doubt over. A Chinese state media outlet also released the letter on Twitter.

Hu, who has a uniquely high profile in China's tightly controlled state media, weighed in on the scandal on Twitter earlier on Friday, saying he does not believe she has been the target of retribution.

"As a person who is familiar with Chinese system, I don't believe Peng Shuai has received retaliation and repression speculated by foreign media for the thing people talked about," he said on Twitter. He did not make any similar comment on his official account on Weibo.

China has been the focus of the WTA's most aggressive expansion over the last decade and hosted nine tournaments in the 2019 season with a total $30.4 million of prize money on offer.

The season-ending WTA Finals had a prize purse of $14 million in 2019 when it was played in Shenzhen for the first time.

The Finals were cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and moved this year to Guadalajara, Mexico, but the WTA has said it will return to Shenzhen from 2022 until 2030.

Streaming platform iQiyi is the WTA’s digital rights partner in China, signing a 10-year deal reportedly worth $120 million. The deal commenced in 2017.