Peng Shuai says she was silent after making a sexual assault allegation because she had too many messages to answer

• Peng Shuai again denied accusing a Chinese official of sexual assault.
• Peng said her silence following the accusation was because she had too many messages to answer.

Peng Shuai, the Chinese tennis player who disappeared after accusing a former Chinese official of sexual assault, said her silence had nothing to do with her wellbeing.

Peng spoke with independent media for the first time following the accusations, giving an interview in a hotel room alongside a Chinese Olympic official to French media outlet L'Equipe.

While discussing why she went silent following the accusations — which were deleted on Weibo shortly after she posted them and led to questions about her wellbeing — Peng said she simply had too many messages to answer.

"I never disappeared," Peng said, per The Syndey Morning Herald. "It's just that a lot of people, like my friends, including from the IOC, messaged me, and it was quite impossible to reply to so many messages.

"But with my close friends, I always remained in close contact. I discussed with them, answered their emails, I also discussed with the WTA."

Peng also blamed a WTA login malfunction which kept her from answering more messages.

Peng's silence and disappearance led to outcries from sports organizations like the WTA and other athletes over her safety. In December, the WTA suspended tournaments in China, with chief executive Steve Simon expressing doubts that Peng was able to speak freely and without censorship.

Peng has since been seen in the company of Chinese officials. She has several times denied saying she was sexually assaulted.

While speaking to L'Equipe, Peng expressed confusion over why people were concerned for her safety.

"First of all, I would like to thank all the ATP and WTA players, all the athletes and all the personalities in large numbers who cared about me," Peng said.

"But I didn't think there would be such concern and I would like to know: why such concern?"

The IOC this week also released a statement saying Peng had dinner with IOC president Thomas Bach.

While speaking to L'Equipe, Peng called her accusation and the resulting coverage a "misunderstanding."

"I hope that we no longer distort the meaning of this post," Peng said. "And I also hope that we don't add more hype on this."