Zuoxiao Zuzhou and Xiao Li, friends of detained artist, have been out of contact since being allegedly stopped by officials
A Chinese rock star close to the detained artist Ai Weiwei has been stopped by officials at an airport in Shanghai, according to friends.
Zuoxiao Zuzhou and his wife, Xiao Li, were reportedly halted this afternoon and have been out of contact for several hours. The musician's phone rang unanswered.
He is the latest of several friends and colleagues of Ai to vanish. His disappearance comes the day after an article he wrote in support of the artist, entitled "Who doesn't love Ai Weiwei?", was published by the Hong Kong newspaper Mingpao.
The piece detailed their close friendship over 18 years and concluded with a visit that the two men made to a cemetery three days before Ai was detained on 3 April. Ai ? who had received several visits from police that week ? pointed to a nearby jail and told his friend: "In prison, I would not commit suicide."
Police at Pudong airport said they knew nothing about the situation, while police at Hongqiao airport said: "We did not take anyone away today. We do not know about this situation."
A search for Zuoxiao's name on the popular Sina microblog service brought up the message: "According to local regulations the results are not shown."
Zuoxiao, who founded the band No, recorded vocals for a Cowboy Junkies album last year. He is also well known for his sculptures and photography and has written a bestselling novel.
No one has been able to contact Ai since he was stopped at Beijing airport. Chinese officials say the 53-year-old artist is under investigation for economic crimes, but police have not notified his family of his detention and his family believe he has been targeted for his political and social activism.
His friend Wen Tao, 38, driver and cousin Zhang Jinsong, also known as Xiao Pang, 43, accountant Hu Mingfen, 55, and colleague Liu Zhenggang, 49, also remain missing.
Dozens more have been detained or arrested or have simply disappeared in the last two months, in what human rights groups say is the most serious drive against activists, dissidents and lawyers in around a decade.
The US has said it will focus on the crackdown in the two-day bilateral human rights dialogue that began today, as well as discussing the rule of law, religious and minority issues and labour rights.
The lead-up to discussions has been unusually testy. "There is going to be a strong message delivered in private," a US official told Reuters.
On Tuesday a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman warned the US not to use human rights as a pretext to meddle in domestic affairs.
Hong Lei told a regular news briefing that China hoped the meetings would help deepen mutual understanding, but added: "We oppose any country that uses human rights to interfere in China's internal affairs."
Nicholas Bequelin, Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the remarks were unprecedentedly strong in the run-up to a dialogue. Many already question the usefulness of the forum.
He added: "If you ask, does the human rights dialogue have any impact on the actual situation of human rights defenders in China, the answer is no. These meetings are [held by] mid-level diplomats who talk past each other.
"[But] this is one venue where you can try to raise these issues. If you remove that, you don't have these opportunities."
Mao Yushi, a Beijing-based economist who advocates political reform, told Reuters: "Especially in a political environment like China's, forces from inside the country calling for human rights meet with various forms of suppression.
"Foreign criticism is extremely important for the progress of human rights in China. So these two forces must combine to push forward China's human rights situation."
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