Thai user sharing clips are real videos of “Former Chinese President after the death penalty”

Thai social media users shared a video on stage in which a man was taken away with the wrong claim, a real video of the former Chinese chief who was sentenced to death for corruption in November 2024. The video was released months before the banker’s verdict, announced by users uploaded by Chinese TV series, which was announced in the banker’s verdict.

“When the chairman of Bank of China was sentenced to death, his knees became so shaky that he could barely walk,” Thai X post was published on March 10, 2025.

The post continues: “This fear shows that China’s sacred laws are 80% different from those of Thai government departments.”

Berlin-based Transparency International ranks Thailand in 107 of 180 countries in its 2024 Corruption Index (Archive Link).

The accompanying 33-second clip shows a man in uniform trying to get out of the police station and another step in to support him.

Screenshot of fake post, taken on March 22, 2025

Former Bank of China Chairman Liu Liang was sentenced to death in November 2024 for accepting a “great” bribe of 121 million yuan ($16.7 million).

Under Chinese law, Liu’s verdict could be converted to life imprisonment in two years.

Liu’s sentencing is the latest development in a decade-long anti-greed campaign launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose supporters say promote clean governance but are also seen as a means of clearing political rivals.

Similar posts on Facebook also shared videos and claimed that they had portrayed Liu’s verdict after receiving the sentence, misleading other users.

One user commented: “If Thailand imposes death penalty on corruption charges, there will be no politicians left.”

But a reverse image search was performed on Google and it was found that the video was staged.

Fictional video

The video was uploaded to the Chinese video sharing platform Bilibili on September 1, 2024.

The title reads: “Ask for the first meeting with the Discipline Council and feel emotional”. There is no mention of death penalty or grafting anywhere.

The user who uploaded the clip also commented that it was a stage scene and urged the actors to urge VIEwers don’t “take it seriously”.

Users regularly upload videos removed from popular Chinese “crime dramas” including “In the Name of People” and “We Are Criminal Police” (links here and here).

Inconsistent elements

A closer inspection of the video shows that the man’s shaking person is not Liu – The former chairman of the Bank of China can be seen in this photo provided by the Jinan Intermediate People’s Court in Shandong to the state news agency Xinhua News Agency.