2019年WTA深圳公开赛上,彭帅赢得一场比赛后向粉丝们打招呼。2019年WTA深圳公开赛上,彭帅赢得一场比赛后向粉丝们打招呼。 Visual China Group, via Getty Images

Julien Chen was getting ready for bed when he learned that one of his favorite Chinese tennis players, Peng Shuai, had made #MeToo allegations against a powerful Chinese official.

朱利安·陈听到他最喜欢的中国网球运动员之一彭帅对一名有权势的中国官员提出“#我也是”指控时,正准备上床睡觉。

A friend told him to check Ms. Peng’s social media account. “There’s a ‘huge melon’ in the tennis circle,” the friend wrote, using the Chinese metaphor for a bombshell.

一个朋友叫他去查看彭帅的社交媒体帐号。那个朋友用一个比喻出了大事的词写道:“网球界有大瓜。”

Mr. Chen couldn’t find anything. He searched the word “tennis,” but Ms. Peng — one of China’s most famous athletes — appeared in barely any results. With stunning efficiency, China’s censors had began scrubbing references to her allegations from the internet.

陈先生什么也没查到。他在网上搜“网球”一词,但检索结果中几乎没有中国最著名的运动员之一彭帅。中国的审查员们已开始以惊人的效率在国内的互联网上删除了所有与她的指控有关的内容。

“All of a sudden, it became a forbidden topic,” Mr. Chen said.

“突然间,一切都不能谈了,”陈先生说。

Ms. Peng is not the first celebrity in China to be almost entirely erased by censors. The country’s online propaganda machine can make just about any story — or person — vanish. Yet her international profile has made the task harder, and China’s attempt to brush her allegations aside has been met with deep criticism around the world.

彭帅并不是第一个在中国境内几乎被完全抹去的名人。中国的网络宣传机器可以让任何故事或任何人消失。但彭帅的国际知名度让这个工作变得困难起来,中国试图不理会彭帅指控的做法在世界各地遭到了强烈批评。

On Wednesday, the Women’s Tennis Association Tour suspended its future tournaments in the country, prompting China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to reiterate that China was “opposed to the politicization of sports.” But Chinese tennis fans are pushing back as well, using subtle, sometimes tongue-in-cheek language to voice their frustration online while trying to outmaneuver censors.

周三,国际女子网球协会(简称WTA)巡回赛暂停了未来在中国举办的赛事,导致中国外交部重申,中国“反对将体育政治化”。但中国的网球迷们也在抵抗国内的审查,用有时是半开玩笑的隐晦语言在网上表达他们的不满,同时试图与审查员斗智。
中国的审查员已将国内互联网上提到彭帅及其指控的内容悉数删除。
中国的审查员已将国内互联网上提到彭帅及其指控的内容悉数删除。 Roman Pilipey/EPA, via Shutterstock

On Chinese social media, there has been little outright discussion about Ms. Peng. A popular online tennis fan club in China, a forum called Tennis Post Bar, hasn’t been updated since Nov. 2, the day Ms. Peng, a three-time Olympian, publicly made her accusations against Zhang Gaoli, a former vice premier.

中国的社交媒体上,几乎没有对彭帅一事直接了当的讨论。一个叫“网球吧”的中国网球粉丝热门在线论坛,自11月2日起就没再更新,参加过三届奥运会的彭帅正是在那天公开指控前副总理张高丽性侵犯的。

To evade the censors, Chinese tennis fans have started to use obscure references to call more attention to Ms. Peng’s silence. Instead of identifying her Chinese name and specifying the details of her allegations, some people have used vague references like “a tennis player” and “the spat.”

为了避开审查,中国的网球迷们开始用晦涩的说法让人们更多地关注彭帅的沉默。一些人在帖子中不用彭帅的名字,也不提她指控的具体内容,而是用“网球运动员”和“风波”等模糊词语。

There was a seemingly unrelated post about art that used the expression “hitting an egg against a rock.” It echoed a line in Ms. Peng’s original allegation, in which she wrote that going up against someone as powerful as Mr. Zhang was like “hitting a rock with an egg.”

一个看似与此事无关的关于艺术的帖子,用了“以卵击石”一词,这呼应了彭帅最初的指控中的一句话。彭帅当时写道,与像张高丽那样有权势的人做斗争就像“以卵击石”。

Even state media figures have found themselves challenged by how to discuss Ms. Peng without setting off alarms. Commenting on Twitter, which is banned in the country, Hu Xijin, the editor in chief of the Chinese Communist Party’s official state newspaper, referred to Ms. Peng’s accusations as “the thing people talked about.”

就连官方媒体人物也发现,如何使用不触发警报的方式讨论彭帅是个挑战。中共官方报纸《环球时报》总编辑胡锡进在被中国屏蔽的Twitter上发评论时,将彭帅的指控称为“人们谈论的那件事。”

Two weeks into the media blackout, some of the biggest names in tennis began to wonder aloud about Ms. Peng’s safety. Chinese state media responded by releasing a flurry of content for international viewers purporting to confirm that she was happy and in no harm. One of the stories managed to reach the domestic audience in China.

国内的新闻封锁进入两周后,一些网球名将开始对彭帅的安全公开表示怀疑。中国官媒的回应是,向国际受众发布了一系列官媒自称是证明彭帅快乐、未受伤害的内容。其中一个故事不知如何进入了国内受众的视线。

It included pictures of Ms. Peng signing giant tennis balls for fans at a youth tennis tournament. A post on the verified account of China Open, a professional tennis tournament in Beijing, was shared nearly a thousand times, and caught the attention of exasperated commenters.

这个故事包括在一个青年网球锦标赛上,彭帅在球迷拿着的巨型网球上签名的照片。中国网球公开赛实名认证帐号的一条帖子被分享了近千次,这引起了愤怒的评论人士的注意。中国网球公开赛是在北京举行的职业网球锦标赛。
中国官方媒体发布了彭帅在上个月的一个青少年网球锦标赛上,笑容满面地与球迷见面的照片。
中国官方媒体发布了彭帅在上个月的一个青少年网球锦标赛上,笑容满面地与球迷见面的照片。 Qingqingparis, via Reuters

“It’s the most reposted youth tournament event post I’ve ever seen in my career,” Zhang Bendou, a veteran tennis expert in China, wrote on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform. Others made more mocking remarks. “Almost everyone is asking ‘where is **’?” one person wrote, leaving Ms. Peng’s name out of the comment. “She showed up.”

“是我职业生涯见过的转发量最高的青少年赛事信息,”中国资深的网球评论员张奔斗在微博上写道。其他人则发表了更多的嘲讽评论。一条略去了彭帅名字的评论写道,“几乎每个人都在问‘**在哪里?’现身了。”

For Lucy Wang, a dentist and a tennis fan in Beijing who watched one of Ms. Peng’s singles matches in person at the China Open in 2017, the photos were enough to put her mind at ease. “Knowing that she’s back is enough for me,” said Ms. Wang, 37. “I have no idea why people outside China are still not satisfied.”

牙医露西·王是网球爱好者,曾在北京2017年的中国公开赛上,现场观看过彭帅的一场单打比赛。看到这些照片足以让她放心。“知道她回来对我来说就够了,”现年37岁的王女士说。“不知道国外的人为什么还不满。”

The International Olympic Committee later published a statement and photo of Ms. Peng smiling in a live video call with the organization’s president. China, which is set to host the Winter Olympics in February, seized on the moment to complain that most Western media and sports organizations had been biased and dishonest about the case.

国际奥林匹克委会后来发布了一份声明,还配了一张彭帅笑容满面地与国际奥委会主席进行视频通话的照片。将于明年2月举办冬奥会的中国,抓住这个机会抱怨大多数西方媒体和体育组织在这件事上存在偏见和不诚实。

On Thursday, the I.O.C. released another statement, saying members of the organization had held a second videoconference with Ms. Peng this week, but offered no details about the conversation. It said it was using “quiet diplomacy” with Chinese sports organizations to address the matter.

本周四,国际奥委会发布了另一份声明,称奥委会成员本周与彭帅进行了第二次视频通话,但没有提供通话的细节。国际奥委会表示,正在与中国体育组织进行“静默外交”,以解决这个问题。

Steve Simon, the chief executive of the W.T.A. Tour, has been one of the most outspoken critics of the Chinese authorities, demanding an investigation into the #MeToo allegations. News of the W.T.A. Tour suspension circulated briefly on the Chinese internet Thursday morning.

WTA巡回赛首席执行官史蒂夫·西蒙是最直言不讳地批评中国当局的人之一,他要求对彭帅的“我也是”指控进行调查。周四上午,WTA巡回赛暂停在中国举行赛事的消息在国内的互联网上曾短暂传播。

Some users on Weibo expressed support for the decision before their comments were removed. “This time I’m with the W.T.A.,” one wrote. Another was puzzled by the fact that Mr. Zhang had not yet been detained. “He really has very strong backing,” the post said. “Ridiculous.”

一些微博用户对这一决定表示支持,他们的评论很快就被删掉。“这次我站在WTA一边,”一条评论写道。另一条评论则对张高丽仍未被拘留的事实感到困惑。“他真有非常强大的后盾,”该帖子写道。“荒唐。”

While these anonymous online commenters have tried to use the internet to push back against the censors, the seriousness of the allegations has made many in China hesitant to talk about Ms. Peng in public.

虽然这些在网上发表评论的匿名人士试图用互联网来反抗审查,但彭帅指控的严重性让许多中国人不愿在公开场合谈论她。
国际奥林匹克委员会发布了一张彭帅与奥委会主席托马斯·巴赫进行视屏通话的照片。
国际奥林匹克委员会发布了一张彭帅与奥委会主席托马斯·巴赫进行视屏通话的照片。 Greg Martin/International Olympic Committee, via Reuters

Ashley Tian did not find out about Ms. Peng’s accusation until Nov. 3, the day after it was posted. At that point, “online discussions were as clean as a blank sheet of paper,” she said. Ms. Tian, a former sportswriter in Shanghai, heard about it from a former colleague, who explained the details in a voice message.

艾什莉·田是11月3日才得知彭帅的指控的,那是指控发出后的第二天。那时的“网上讨论像一张白纸”,田女士说,她曾在上海从事报道体育比赛的工作,她从一名前同事那里听到了这件事,该人用语音信息讲述了有关细节。

At dinner that evening, Ms. Tian shared the message with some friends, who leaned in closely for the discussion. “Should we talk about it here?” Ms. Tian recalled one friend asking nervously. They changed the subject.

田女士在当天晚上与朋友聚餐时,把短信播放给朋友们听,他们把头聚在一起讨论。“我们应该在这聊这个吗?”田女士记得有个朋友紧张地问道。朋友们改变了话题。

“People don’t even dare to discuss it in public,” she said. “I guess what Peng really went through would remain a mystery forever.”

“大家甚至不敢公开讨论,”田女士说。“我想彭帅经历了什么或许永远没法知道吧。”

As an avid fan who had seen Ms. Peng play tennis at tournaments in Zhuhai and Shenzhen, Mr. Chen said his experience of trying to find out what had happened to her that evening was both frustrating and an eye-opener. “I was shocked and clueless how fast these things evolve,” he said.

陈先生是个狂热的网球迷,曾在珠海和深圳的赛事上观看过彭帅打网球,他说,他试图在那天晚上弄清在彭帅身上发生了什么事情的经历,既让他沮丧,又让他大开眼界。“事情变化太快,我除了震惊之外也摸不着头绪,”他说。

Mr. Chen is still unsettled by the whole experience and said he was disappointed with the W.T.A. Tour’s announcement on Wednesday, saying he prefers to watch female tennis players because he believes women have more diverse skills on the court than men do.

陈先生仍对那个经历感到不安,并说他对WTA巡回赛周三的宣布感到失望。他说,他更喜欢看女子网球运动员打球,因为他认为,女选手在场上表现出的技能比男选手更多样化。

He said especially loved to watch Ms. Peng’s powerful serves, but questioned whether her allegations would ever be investigated in China. “We know these kinds of things happen and we care about them,” he said. “But most of us choose to remain silent.”

他说他尤其喜欢看彭帅强有力的发球,但对彭帅的指控在中国是否会被调查有所怀疑。“我们知道这些事发生,也会关心,”他说。“但大多数人选择不说什么。”

He added: “That’s the reality in China.”

他补充道:“那是国内的现实。”

Amy Chang Chien在台湾为《纽约时报》报道中国大陆和台湾新闻。欢迎在Twitter上关注她 @amy_changchien

艾莎(Alexandra Stevenson)是时报驻香港商业记者,报道中国企业巨头、跨国公司以及中国在亚洲日益增长的经济和金融影响力。欢迎在TwitterFacebook上关注她。

翻译:纽约时报中文网

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