Eyewitnesses at Hsu's cremation described Koo as inconsolable. He was reportedly seen in tears as he carried his wife's urn home.

Critics accused Chinese business man Wang Xiaofei of using the death of his ex-wife, Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu, to portray himself as a devoted former husband and potentially stake a claim to her assets.

Hsu was 48 when she died of pneumonia after contracting influenza while on a trip with her family to Japan. Rumours of her death first spread online on Sunday and was eventually confirmed by her younger sister, Taiwanese entertainer Dee Hsu, on Monday morning, via the latter's manager. Her body was later cremated in Tokyo.