There is an old Chinese saying “It’s not that there is no pay back, it just hasn’t come yet.” This perfectly describes the situation Qiu Riren found himself in last Monday when he was tried for a killing he was involved in 46 years ago.
Qiu, an 81-year-old farmer from Ruian, Zhejiang, went on trial for the alleged intentional killing of a doctor named Hong Yunke in 1967.
At the trial, Qiu frequently swung his arms, appearing to have trouble hearing the questions, the Southern Weekly reported. But when prosecutor asked him whether he killed Hong, Qiu said “Yes”.
According to the report, the “forgotten” murder took place in 1967, a year after the start of the Cultural Revolution, a ten-year-long period of social and political upheaval that paralysed China politically and economically.
Hong, the grandson of a landlord, was a barefoot doctor at the time and enjoyed a relatively good living in the area.
On December 12, 1967, on his way to gather medicinal herbs, Hong encountered a militia faction of which Qiu was a member. Qiu and his cohorts suspected Hong of being a spy for an opposing militia faction.