A hot mic incident caught Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping discussing organ transplants and the concept of ‘immortality’ during a military parade in China.
The Russian leader attended China’s V-Day celebrations, where he was warmly greeted by Xi Jinping, who addressed him as an ‘old friend’.
The presence of such influential global figures is a notable event worldwide, and a hot mic at the military parade captured the conversation between Xi and Putin.
North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un also attended the parade in Beijing, marking a rare instance of the three leaders being together in public.
Putin’s remarks were interpreted for Xi Jinping.
According to Reuters and the Associated Press, the interpreter conveyed Putin’s words in Mandarin: “With continuous advances in biotechnology, human organs will be increasingly transplanted – letting us live younger and younger, and perhaps even achieve immortality.”
Xi Jinping replied: “In this century, it’s anticipated that it may be possible for people to live to 150 years old.”
The captured conversation between such significant leaders is unusual, but not unexpected, as explained by an expert.
Feng Chongyi, a China studies expert at the University of Technology Sydney, commented to ABC News: “Throughout history, dictators around the world have sought immortality, and in China this tradition is even longer. Authoritarian leaders will stop at nothing in the pursuit of eternal life.”
Russia and China have maintained a long-standing alliance, with Putin previously commending their relationship, describing it as at an ‘unprecedentedly high level’.
There is ongoing concern about the possibility of World War III, although Putin recently downplayed these fears while speaking with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who described the notion of a Moscow attack on Europe as ‘provocation or incompetence’.
Putin dismissed the idea of plans to strike deeper in Europe and target NATO as ‘absolute nonsense’ and criticized the EU’s reaction as ‘hysteria’ driven by ‘horror stories’.
“As for ‘Russia’s aggressive plans with respect to Europe’, I want to emphasise once again that this is complete nonsense, which has absolutely no basis,” he stated.
“Any sensible person realises that Russia has never had, does not have, and will not have the desire to attack anyone.”