China: The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) will bring its events back to China later in 2023, ending a boycott instituted in late 2021 over concerns about the safety of former player Ms. Peng Shuai, who had accused a high-ranking government official there of sexual assault.

According to a statement from the WTA, it would lift its suspension of tournaments in China in September 2023, despite making little progress on the situation that sparked the boycott.

The WTA was widely praised for suspending its tournaments in China after Ms. Peng, in a social media post in November 2021, said former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli forced her to have sex.

The female tennis player then briefly disappeared from public view and later denied making the accusation, sparking fears for her safety. Ms. Peng’s post caused an international outcry over her safety, and the WTA’s decision to suspend events in China was expected to have cost the tour hundreds of millions of dollars in broadcasting and sponsorship.

“After 16 months of suspended tennis competition in China and sustained efforts at achieving our original requests, the situation has shown no sign of changing. We have concluded we will never fully secure those goals, and it will be our players and tournaments who ultimately will be paying an extraordinary price for their sacrifices,” the WTA statement remarked.

“For these reasons, the WTA is lifting its suspension of the operation of tournaments in the People’s Republic of China and will resume tournaments in China this September,” the statement added.

In January 2022, the WTA announced that it was confident Ms. Peng was “safe and comfortable” in Beijing but still wanted a private meeting with the now 37-year-old before returning to the region, adding that it would not compromise on its founding principles.

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