#trending: Fugitive in China goes viral for asking wife to remarry after his arrest; netizens express no sympathy
GUANGZHOU, CHINA — A fugitive arrested for alleged murder in China after being on the run for 30 years has gone viral on Chinese social media after a video surfaced of him telling his wife to find a new husband before being escorted away by authorities.

Screengrabs from a Weibo video showing Zhou bidding an emotional farewell to his wife before being escorted onto a train by authorities in Guangzhou, China.
- A video of a fugitive urging his wife to find a new husband during his arrest has gone viral on Chinese social media
- The suspect spent 30 years on the run from police after allegedly beating and stabbing a man to death in central Hubei province
- The video elicited mixed reactions from netizens, most of whom felt that the killer was undeserving of sympathy
GUANGZHOU, CHINA — A fugitive arrested for alleged murder in China after being on the run for 30 years has gone viral on Chinese social media after a video surfaced of him telling his wife to find a new husband before being escorted away by authorities.
The self-confessed killer, surnamed Zhou, had allegedly stabbed a man to death with three other men in central Hubei province in 1993, according to the Chinese state-owned newspaper Beijing Youth Daily.
While his accomplices were soon arrested after the crime, Zhou had reportedly been in hiding until June 28 when Hubei police learnt of his whereabouts and arrested him in the southern city of Guangzhou.
The 41-second clip of the Zhou and his wife was uploaded on July 6 and has garnered at least 1.73 million views and 661 comments on Weibo as of Thursday (July 13).
In the video, Zhou was seen bidding an emotional farewell to his distraught wife, telling her to divorce him and remarry so that she can enjoy the rest of her life.
Zhou’s wife was seen crying and hugging him goodbye while he told his sister-in-law: “The divorce agreement is over there, get your sister to sign it. You must persuade her to remarry and not to wait for me. I will not be leaving jail.”
His wife said repeatedly: “I am wondering if you don’t want me … I don’t agree. I don’t agree.”
When Zhou told her not to wait for him, she covered his mouth with her hand and shook her head in disagreement.
Zhou told the Beijing Youth Daily that he felt remorseful over the crime he committed 30 years ago.
“I haven’t seen my parents all these years and haven’t displayed my filial piety towards them. I did the wrong thing when I was young. I shouldn’t have beaten and killed that guy,” he said.
The video elicited mixed reactions from online users, most of whom expressed no sympathy towards the alleged killer and criticised him for his purported crime.
“Who is there to sympathise with,” said one Weibo user, whose comment attracted more than 800 likes.
Another user wrote: “If (he) had a conscience 30 years ago, (he) should have surrendered. What (is he) pretending to do now?”
One comment went: “I can’t bear to sympathise with criminals. He has been let off lightly these 30 years. What (happens) if he is not arrested?”
Others, however, said they were moved by the love the couple shared.
One Weibo user commented: “I am too old to see this kind of scene of husband and wife parting. Let the woman go in and accompany him.”
“He looks like a good man at first glance. He must have been forced to kill,” another remarked.
In China, anyone charged with committing intended murder could face imprisonment of no less than 10 years, a life sentence or the death penalty.
If the convicted person is a minor, they face imprisonment of no less than three years.