9:06 PM
The International Olympic Committee said Tuesday that it cannot give any guarantees about the safety of tennis player Peng Shuai in China.
Since November 2, when she sent a social media post accusing a former top Communist Party official of sexual assault, she has only had two video calls with the IOC.
Critics claim that the IOC is allowing a cover-up by China ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February.
The Women's Tennis Association suspended all of its tournaments in China because of the IOC's refusal to speak to Peng.
Mark Adams said the IOC can't give you absolute certainty. We can't do anything about it, but we can try to do the best we can in the process that we believe is in the best interests of the athlete.
Since Beijing was picked as host in 2015, the IOC has cited its policy of "quiet diplomacy" as the most likely to succeed with China.
The first video call was with Peng, a three-time Olympian. The call involved IOC members from China and an athlete representative.
The IOC was criticized for not providing video footage or transcripts of the conversations after both video calls.
Adams said that they don't know the full facts, pointing to a promise that both sides made that they will meet for dinner in Beijing in January. It's a full road map to try and keep in touch with her.
After talking with current and former players, the WTA took a stance on China, and was supported by Olympic tennis champion Belinda Bencic last week.
The #WhereIsPengShuai has gained support from tennis greats such as Serena Williams, and has trended on social media.
Adams said he couldn't answer the question because he really didn't know.
German news agency dpa published an interview with the Olympic leader on Tuesday, but he did not take part in the online news conference.
"All aspects of this case are being discussed with the Chinese side, and I can assure you of that," he said.
The senior IOC member overseeing Beijing's Olympic preparations took questions and said there was a need to be discreet.
We have to respect her desire for discretion in this difficult moment. At the news conference, he said that they would do that.
The IOC has avoided using words like "restricted freedom" or "Peng's allegations". The statements after the video calls only talked about her situation.
