Chinese prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty in a corruption case against the mother of a Chinese pop star who is dating Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson.
Qu Zhang Mingjie, mother of Vancouver-based singer Wanting Qu, learned at trial last week she could face execution for alleged financial crimes, according to an article published in the South China Morning Post on Wednesday. 
Zhang stands accused of taking part in a real estate scam in the city of Harbin while serving as a high ranking official. She was first detained in the fall of 2014.

RELATED STORIES

PHOTOS

Wanting Qu
Chinese-Canadian star Wanting Qu performs on stage during a 25-city tour in China.
The South China Morning Post has reported Zhang is accused of using her position to embezzle 350-million Yuan ($69-million CAD) from a deal to transfer state-owned farmland to a private company.
Qu has served as an ambassador for Tourism Vancouver because of her fame as a pop star in China. She recently released a new single called "Your Girl," which she dedicates to her mother.
“Though I haven’t been able to talk to her, feel her or reach her in anyway in the last two years, I know deep down in my heart, there’s a place that’s warm like the sun and bright like the moon,” said Qu in a statement from her record label.
“It’s a place for a daughter like me and a mother like her. I believe that place exists in everyone’s heart. I hope she can hear the song and it gives her love and strength.”
Amnesty International Canada tells CTV News its position on the death penalty is clear and it condemns China’s use of it.
“Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender or the characteristics of the victim,” reads a statement from the human rights agency.
“The death penalty is an affront to human rights and by its nature violates the right to life and by practice violates the right not to be subject to cruel or inhumane punishment. Rights laid out in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”