Were the Chinese tennis events cancelled by the WTA in relation to Peng Shuai already cancelled because of COVID-19?

Question

The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) announced it is cancelling "all WTA tournaments in China, including Hong Kong" based on recent events surrounding Peng Shuai.

Long before #PengShuai’s case, WTA has suspended all tournaments in China and Japan due to COVID19 restriction.
_{Shen Shiwei 沈诗伟, 2 December 2021 (screenshot taken 7 December 2021).}

Shen Shiwei has been quoted in outlets in relation to Peng Shuai, such as the NY Post and CNN 1; 2 (although not about this precise claim, to my knowledge).

Shen Shiwei screenshots the webpage:

ST PETERSBURG, FL, USA – The WTA has announced further updates to the 2021 Tour calendar. Due to continued COVID-19 concerns and travel restrictions in China and Japan, the WTA tournaments traditionally scheduled in Chinese Mainland and Japan will not operate this year. This applies to all events except for the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen, which is still under discussion.
_{WTA ANNOUNCES 2021 CALENDAR UPDATE, 1 July 2021, viewed 7 December 2021.}

While the WTA's website doesn't fully support the claim, it does raise the possibility that cancelling events in China could be predominately or entirely because of COVID-19, and not in relation to Peng Shuai. So...

Question: Were the Chinese tennis events cancelled by the WTA in relation to Peng Shuai already cancelled because of COVID-19?

Answer 1

It appears that the cancelation due to covid was for the year 2021 and would have been reviewed at the start of the next year. The cancelation in regards to the issues around Peng Shuai appear to have no end and will continue indefinitely until the issue is resolved.

In short the covid cancelation was up for review and could have been removed for the 2022 tour calendar and appears to have been replaced by a different cancelation reason.

WTA Announces 2021 Calendar Update:

The WTA has announced further updates to the 2021 Tour calendar. Due to continued COVID-19 concerns and travel restrictions in China and Japan, the WTA tournaments traditionally scheduled in Chinese Mainland and Japan will not operate this year. This applies to all events except for the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen, which is still under discussion.

Answer 2

As the link to the WTA announcement you posted says:

As a result, and with the full support of the WTA Board of Directors, I am announcing the immediate suspension of all WTA tournaments in China, including Hong Kong. In good conscience, I don’t see how I can ask our athletes to compete there [...] I am also greatly concerned about the risks that all of our players and staff could face if we were to hold events in China in 2022.

The use of the subjunctive clearly indicates that the ban will be enforced in 2022, CoVid or not CoVid. And this is so because the announcement was made on the 3rd of december. If the China tournaments hadn't been cancelled due to Covid they would had already finished, since the WTA season ends in november. It doesn't matter if the tournaments were already cancelled due to Covid, because it wouldn't had mattered if they hadn't been; at the time of the anouncement they were already past, so the cancelling can only affect future tournaments.