The Women’s Tennis Association on Wednesday night suspended all tournaments in China after being shown “insufficient evidence” Peng Shuai was safe.

Amid a major diplomatic row over the disappearance of the former Wimbledon doubles champion, Steve Simon, the WTA’s chief executive, said he was “greatly concerned” about the risk players could face if it held events in the nation next year.

Peng vanished from the public eye for almost three weeks after posting a 1,600-word statement on Chinese social media platform Weibo in which she claimed China’s former vice-premier, Zhang Gaoli, had ‘forced’ her to have sexual relations with him.

An email released by Chinese state media purporting to be from Peng and a much-publicised video call between her and Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, did little more than compound fears she was not safe.

And Simon, who had previously threatened to strip China of WTA events unless a full and transparent investigation was carried out into her claims, ran out of patience on Wednesday night.

“The leadership in China has not addressed this very serious issue in any credible way,” he said.

“If powerful people can suppress the voices of women and sweep allegations of sexual assault under the rug, then the basis on which the WTA was founded – equality for women – would suffer an immense setback.

“I will not and cannot let that happen to the WTA and its players.”

There have been no WTA events in China for two years because of the coronavirus pandemic but eight were held there in 2019, including the season-ending WTA Finals.

Stripping one of the world’s largest economies from hosting events could cost the organisation millions.

“I very much regret it has come to this point but China’s leaders have left the WTA with no choice,” Simon added.

“Unless China takes the steps we have asked for, we cannot put our players and staff at risk by holding events in China.”

Concern for Peng’s wellbeing has seen a number of tennis players and athletes adopt the hashtag #WhereisPengShuai on Twitter to draw attention to it, including Andy Murray and Serena Williams.

The White House said it was “deeply concerned” about her welfare, while the European Union called for China to release “verifiable proof” she was safe.

Both the ATP and International Tennis Federation previously backed the WTA’s calls for a full and transparent investigation into her allegations.

Wednesday night’s announcement piled pressure on the two organisations to follow the latter’s lead and strip China of their own tournaments.

The same applies to the IOC and the Winter Olympics ahead of next year’s Games in Beijing, a working group for which Zhang had been head of prior to his retirement.

He and Bach were photographed shaking hands together in 2016.

Simon said: “I hope leaders around the world will continue to speak out so justice can be done for Peng, and all women, no matter the financial ramifications.”

Shelby Rogers, the world number 42, hailed the WTA’s decision on Wednesday night, posting on Twitter: