Dozens of fake Twitter accounts were set up by China to spread the state's media messaging that Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai was safe ©Getty Images

Dozens of fake Twitter accounts were set up by China to spread the state's media messaging that Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai was safe after she made allegations of sexual assault against a high-ranking politician in the country, an investigation has found.

Analysis conducted by New York Times and ProPublica, a non-profit investigative newsroom, uncovered 97 accounts that had defended China's narrative about Peng after concerns were expressed about her welfare.

Peng, a Grand Slam doubles champion, vanished from public view after making the allegations against Zhang Gaoli, a former senior vice-premier and high-ranking member of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, on November 2.

Censors working for China began wiping any evidence of Peng's claims, made on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, in the immediate aftermath of the accusations.

The post was removed within 20 minutes, not reported on in China, and Peng was reportedly not seen for more than two weeks.

Images and videos of Peng, including one where someone off-camera is at pains to mention the date, were also published.

Chinese state media insisted she was safe after the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) - which has since suspended all of its events in China - and several leading players expressed concern, publishing an email that was claimed to come from Peng but was widely dismissed as being fabricated.

Concerns were raised over the welfare of Peng Shuai after she made allegations of sexual assault against Zhang Gaoli, right ©Getty Images
Concerns were raised over the welfare of Peng Shuai after she made allegations of sexual assault against Zhang Gaoli, right ©Getty Images

Xiao Qiang, a researcher on internet freedom at the University of California, told the New York Times the Chinese censors banned several hundred keywords.

Xiao said the treatment is usually reserved for sensitive topics in China such as the crackdown on Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Twitter has since closed the accounts, the New York Times said, and is investigating.

Calls the International Olympic Committee (IOC) held with the three-time Olympian are the only reported contacts Peng has had with people outside China since she made the allegations.

The IOC has been criticised for its handling of the Peng case and refused to mention the allegations or why there are fears about her welfare.

IOC President Thomas Bach again did not make any reference to her claims when speaking after an IOC Executive Board meeting yesterday.

The IOC's failure to do so has been interpreted by some critics as pandering to China, due to stage the Winter Olympic Games from February 4 to 22, and being complicit with the country.

Bach rejected claims the IOC had sided with China, claiming doing so would be a "politicisation" of the Games and would lead to the "end" of the Olympics.