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Facing death sentence

The mother of Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson's girlfriend is facing the death penalty in China.

Chinese prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Qu Zhang Mingjie, mother of Chinese pop star Wanting Qu, for allegedly embezzling $69 million, according to an article in South China Morning Post Wednesday.

Zhang is accused of being part of a real estate scam in the city of Harbin, while she worked as a high-ranking official.

The deal involved transferring state-owned farmland to a private company.

She was first detained in 2014.

Qu has been an ambassador for Tourism Vancouver because of her fame in China, and recently released a song dedicated to her mother called Your Girl.

“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.”

- With files from CTV Vancouver



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