Do executions in China take place at 6 a.m. to minimize suffering and signify a new beginning? No, that's not true: the hour at which executions are carried out in China varies, as seen in reports of publicly known executions, and there is no evidence behind the claims that morning executions are less painful or meant to send the prisoner off with well wishes.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) where it was published on Tiktok by @knowledgeking_1 on July 3, 2023. It opens with a close-up image of the handcuffed hands of a prisoner in an orange uniform and a caption that reads:
Here's the reason China executes its death-row prisoners at 6AM.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri Jun 16 14:00:39 2023 UTC)
The video starts by stating established facts: China carries out the highest number of executions in the world, which can be imposed for 46 criminal offenses.
The number of executions in China is considered a state secret, but human rights groups like the Dui Hua Foundation, a US-based human rights group focusing on China, have provided estimates that actually place China as the world's top executioner, followed by Iran and Saudi Arabia, according to Amnesty International.
However, there is no set hour for executions. Media coverage of publicly known executions has started at a broad range of hours. In a series of photographs taken in 2003 that gave a rare look into how executions in China are carried out, female prisoners who were sentenced to death for drug smuggling were walked to the execution ground at 7 a.m. In 2013, a live broadcast of executions started at 1:30 p.m., which lasted two hours and cut before the actual moment of lethal injection.
The video also alleges that there are humane intentions behind the time. It states:
Six in the morning is when we rise and our brains are not yet fully awake, which reduces the pain from the execution.
The foggy state during the transitory state from sleep to wakefulness is called sleep inertia. Its effects are reduced alertness and impaired cognition, which would lessen cognitive awareness of the execution but would not deaden physical pain.
The video continues with more made-up claims:
[6AM] is also the hour of sunrise, signifying the day's start and hope, which is meant to wish upon the prisoner a new life in another world after the execution.
While the number six is considered auspicious in Chinese culture, when applied to the time of day, it does not symbolize "hope" or a "new life." These claims seem to have originated from an obscure blog post from July 2020 that repeated the same set of claims, interspersed with images of handcuffed prisoners, flanked by prison guards. None of the claims were supported by sources.
