Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson with girlfriend Wanting Qu in Vancouver. Facebook photo
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has acknowledged the arrest in China of the mother of a pop star he has been romantically linked to, saying the matter has been "difficult" but that details remain scant.
Zhang Mingjie, the mother of Chinese pop star Wanting Qu, was arrested last fall on "economic charges" and remains under investigation, according to Xinhua and the China Daily. Fengxing Studio, a media organization run by Zhuo Wei, a man often called China's number one paparazzo, cited a source who claimed Ms. Zhang sold state assets on the cheap.
Reporters asked Mr. Robertson about the matter following an unrelated meeting with Metro Vancouver mayors on Friday.
"It's obviously a personal issue for her and a very difficult one," Mr. Robertson replied. "It's been many months with no information and that's very tough. I can't say any more about it. I have next to no information related to that situation."
Pressed further, Mr. Robertson said "there is no information available because she's being held."
A notice posted to a government website in Harbin, a city in northeastern China, said "Comrade Zhang Mingjie" had been dismissed by the local government "from the position of director of Harbin Urbanization Construction Leading Group Office." Chinese media have reported her résumé in detail, charting a rising career built in local government positions related to housing, construction and urban management.
Ms. Qu, who sings in English and Mandarin, is an award-winning, platinum-selling singer-songwriter in China, the home of her birth. She has lived in Vancouver since her teens, though she has yet to achieve the same profile in Canada.
She was named Tourism Vancouver's first-ever Tourism Ambassador to China, a role she held from 2013 to 2014.
Mr. Robertson has been romantically linked to Ms. Qu since early 2015.