Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin reportedly “made small talk about living forever” as they proceeded to witness the grand military parade in Beijing on Wednesday, September 3.
Putin and Xi, both 72 years old, were caught casually talking about living up to 150 years and discussing how human organs can be continuously transplanted.
According to the New York Times, Xi Jinping “mused” that people might soon live to 150. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin, speaking through a translator, said that organ transplants could allow humans to achieve “immortality.”
“With the development of biotechnology, human organs can be continuously transplanted, and people can live younger and younger, and even achieve immortality,” a translator said in Mandrin.
“People rarely lived to be over 70, but these days, at 70, you are still a child,” a man apparently translating Xi’s comments for Putin could be heard saying in Russian.
“Predictions are, this century, there’s a chance of also living to 150,” Xi reortedly told Putin.
The brief conversation was captured by a microphone and broadcast live by Chinese state news media CCTV from the parade celebrating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
A video of the “hot mic moment” was circulated widely on social media on Wednesday. Mint could not verify the authenticity of the video.
The moment sheds light on how medical advances are intersecting with geopolitics, given that both Putin and Xi have suggested they may want to stay in power for years to come.