News analysis Zhang Gaoli, the former vice premier of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) State Council, was recently accused of sexual assault against Peng Shuai, a professional tennis star who is 40 years younger than Zhang. Although Chinese authorities have been scrambling to block all related posts, more and more of Zhang’s alleged scandals are being publicized online. On the night of Nov. 2 in a Weibo post, Peng alleged that she had nonconsensual sexual relations with the 75-year-old Zhang. Peng said that Zhang’s wife was aware of it and “stood guard outside” while Peng was sexually assaulted. The post was deleted 20 minutes later, but a screenshot of the post has been widely circulated in China and abroad. The General Administration of Sports, the CCP’s State Council, and official media held a rare unanimous silence on the matter. The New York Times noted in an article that Peng’s post was …