A previously private conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting was inadvertently revealed to the world because their microphone was left on.
A peculiar situation was witnessed during the meeting between Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Wednesday, September 3rd.
The trio was together in Beijing to watch the military parade in Tiananmen Square, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
On the way to the podium, the microphones above the presidents had been left open, which is why their conversation between Russia’s Putin and China’s Xi, which was intended to be private, was suddenly revealed to the whole world.
As they walked towards the podium, Putin and Xi discussed, according to the BBC, a rather peculiar topic through their interpreters: immortality and organ transplants.
“In the past, it used to be rare for someone to be older than 70 and these days they say that at 70 one’s still a child,” Xi’s translator interpreted the president’s words into Russian for Putin.
Putin was clearly enthusiastic about the topic, as his interpreter replied to Xi in Chinese “With the development of biotechnology, human organs can be continuously transplanted, and people can live younger and younger, and even achieve immortality.”
Putin’s words, caught on the microphone and translated by the interpreter, were about immortality, “Predictions are, this century, there’s a chance of also living to 150 [years old].”
Some people think that people could live to be 150 years old already in this century.
Putin later raised the issue in statements to Russian media. According to Tass, he reportedly said that average life expectancy varies from country to country, but is expected to increase significantly.
North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un, who was walking with him, only smiled at the two during the conversation. According to the BBC and Reuters, it is not known whether the words between the two about immortality were translated for him. However, the entire confusing conversation was broadcast to the world and heard by millions of people through Chinese media.
Putin’s “obsession” with immortality
According to a previous investigation by the Russian media outlet Meduza, Mikhail Kovalchuk, a close associate of Putin, is leading Russian research into immortality, and the subject is allegedly an “obsession” of Kremlin leaders and Putin.
According to the Guardian, Kovalchuk is said to have invested huge amounts of money in organ transplantation and cloning technology, which would allow replacement organs to be created in the laboratory from new cells.
Putin’s daughter, Maria Vorontsova, has reportedly received millions of dollars in funding from the Russian state for research related to cell regeneration and looking for ways to extend the human lifespan.
What thoughts do these leaders’ interests and discussions about extending the human lifespan evoke in you? Let us know in the comments on Facebook.
