Mother of pop singer romantically linked to Vancouver mayor detained in China

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The mother of a Chinese pop singer romantically linked to Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson has been detained by Chinese authorities, according to the country's state media.

Zhang Mingjie was detained last fall, according to Xinhua and the China Daily, which published articles that appear to confirm earlier reporting by Fengxing Studio, a media organization run by Zhuo Wei, a man often called China's number one paparazzo.

Fengxing said she was arrested on "economic charges" and remains under investigation. The report cited a source who claimed Ms. Zhang sold state assets on the cheap.

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.

The dismissal notice was posted Nov. 3. Two days later, her daughter Wanting Qu posted a note to her Weibo social media account about Shine Over Me, "a song I wrote for my mom. Missing her." In a separate interview, she said another song, Shell, was also written to her mother.

But the relationship between the two had long been strained, Fengxing reported, because Ms. Zhang had forced her daughter to practice piano and forgo travel and dating as a child. That created an unhappiness that escalated into a "cold war" when Ms. Qu abandoned her studies to pursue a musical career, although the two reconciled when the singing star found success, the outlet reported.

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.

Details have been scarce on the mayor's relationship with Ms. Qu.

In July, 2014, the mayor's office issued a statement saying Mr. Robertson and his wife, Amy, had agreed to separate. They had been married since the late 1980s.

Since early 2015, Mr. Robertson has been linked to Ms. Qu. In February, he posted a declaration of affection to Ms. Qu on social media, calling her "sweetheart," along with a photo of the pair.

In March, The Province newspaper asked Mr. Robertson about his privacy in light of social media reports about his relationship with Ms. Qu.

"Curiosity is part of life, but it is my personal life," Mr. Robertson said in the video interview with the B.C. newspaper.

He noted that there's a huge film and TV industry in Vancouver, and one thing workers in that sector like is that residents leave celebrities alone.

"People are pretty relaxed here. I'd like that to be the case with politics. It's never been an issue before and I certainly have asked people to respect my private life. For the most part, that's happening."

Amber Sessions, manager of media relations for Tourism Vancouver, said Ms. Qu's official role with the organization, promoting Vancouver's image in China, ended several months ago.

"We had an arrangement with her as our tourism ambassador ... That ended in 2014. It would have been in the middle of the year sometime," she said.

The mayor's office declined comment on Ms. Zhang.

Ms. Sessions said she was aware of the news reports in China about the arrest of Ms. Qu's mother, but was reluctant to comment.

"We sort of feel it doesn't really relate to us at this point," she said. "Personally I feel really terrible for [Ms. Qu], because she's a really wonderful person."

Ms. Sessions provided a formal response in an e-mail, stating: "Tourism Vancouver only learned of these reports today. Qu Wanting was Tourism Vancouver's Tourism Ambassador to China from 2013 to 2014 in an award-winning promotional program that shared Vancouver travel experiences with over 30 million Chinese on social and traditional media. We are very proud of our 2013/14 collaboration with Qu Wanting which resulted in numerous tourism marketing awards and played a role in record-setting visitation from China. We sincerely wish her all the best with her music and career."

In an April. 16 posting on her Facebook page, Ms. Qu paid tribute to her mother, saying she regretted not being in her life for the past 15 years and also resentful that her mother had not been in her life since she was a teen.

"But over the years, she's forgiven me because she's found pride and joy in my success in life. And I've forgiven her because I've grown to understand fully that no one is perfect," she wrote.

Ms. Qu, who said she was her mothers' only child, wrote that none taught her mother to be a "first time mother," adding, "She had to learn. Through me. I'm honoured for that. I feel lucky in many ways to be her daughter."

-With reports from Yu Mei