BEIJING: As the Chinese and Russian leaders — Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin — walked together on the sidelines of the parade held in Beijing on Wednesday, the state-run CCTV picked up the two talking about the possibility of humans living for 150 years amid the scientific advancements.
The moment was carried on the livestream provided by state broadcaster CCTV to other media, including China-state broadcaster CGTN, AP and Reuters. China’s radio and TV administration said CCTV’s coverage of the event was viewed 1.9 billion times online and by more than 400 million on TV.
As Putin and Xi walked toward the Tiananmen rostrum where they viewed the parade with Kim, Putin’s translator could be heard saying in Chinese, “Biotechnology is continuously developing.”
The translator added, after an inaudible passage, “human organs can be continuously transplanted. The longer you live, the younger you become, and (you can) even achieve immortality.”
In response, Xi, who was off camera, can be heard responding in Chinese, “Some predict that in this century humans may live to 150 years old.”
Kim was smiling and looking in the direction of Putin and Xi, but it was not clear if the conversation was being translated for him. Putin cannot be heard speaking clearly in Russian in the CCTV clip.
As Xi began speaking, the video cut to a wide shot of Tiananmen Square and the audio faded.
Just over 30 seconds later, Xi, Putin and Kim reappeared on camera as they walked on the steps toward the viewing platform for the parade.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES
Later in the evening, Putin confirmed he spoke with Xi about people potentially living to 150.
“There was some UN data that by 2050, there will be more people aged 65+ than than 5-year-olds,” told reporters in response to a question.
“The social and economic consequences of that — that is something to be mindful of,” he remarked.
However, his remarks about “the social and economic consequences” are more like a warning given that the developed nations in the West and the countries like China face the “pension challenge”.
The reason is demographic changes mean their more and more “grey hair” population that requires social benefits amid caring costs amid declining birthrate.
Hence, some of the countries are increasing the retirement age to delay the possibly unsolvable economic crisis.
Even in Pakistan where life expectancy is still much below the world average, the government has been talking about the pension crisis.
Meanwhile, The Times of London had reported last year about the Kremlin officials directing scientists to fast-track anti-aging research, focusing on cellular degeneration, cognitive decline and strengthening the immune system.