Putin and Xi Discuss Organ Transplants and Immortality in Hot Mic Moment

In this era of wars and rumors of wars, why are Putin and Xi talking about living forever instead of solutions?

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) speaks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping (C) and North Korea's Kim Jong Un (R) after a group photograph before a military parade to marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, on Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Sept. 3, 2025. Alexander Kazakov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

At a recent grand military parade in Beijing commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were caught on a hot mic musing about biotechnology and whether they could live to be 150.

While the world is struggling with major wars and economic uncertainty, it’s illuminating to see that immortality was top of mind for the strongmen.

It’s not peace, prosperity, or liberty that matter most, but rather longevity.

Who Wants to Live Forever?

Should it surprise anyone that the deepest dreams of dictators aren’t about democracy but immortality?

No, it shouldn’t.

For strongmen, death is the one opponent they can’t imprison, exile, or shoot. It’s the only thing they fear more than losing power.

There are good reasons for that to be the case, but more on that later.

The Dictators’ Playbook Is Different Than That of Western Politicians

Dictators have critically different needs than do duly elected representatives of Western governments. First, they rarely obtain their long-term political legitimacy at the ballot box. Once they gain power, legitimately or otherwise, they ensure that they win subsequent elections through fraud and deception.

Unlike their Western counterparts, who gain legitimacy through votes every election, dictators establish and maintain their so-called legitimacy through fear.

The difference between the elected and the unelected couldn’t be greater.

Consider representative republican democracies, which are largely a product of Western political culture. They rely on open elections and effective and transparent legal and judicial systems. Politicians must work hard to get elected, operate within and are subject to the law, and are—or are supposed to be—held accountable for the outcomes of their political, economic, and societal policies.

If their constituents, such as the voters, don’t approve, they vote him or her out of office.

On the other hand, strongmen such as Putin and Xi worry much less about being held accountable by the people via the ballot box. Both have successfully altered their respective systems to gain rule-for-life status. Both have imprisoned or eliminated their political opposition. What’s more, they continue to do those things to this day, with purges in the case of Xi and murder or political persecution in the case of Putin.

Persecution, murder, and fear are the top tactics in the dictator’s playbook against their opponents, not political popularity among the masses.

The Long, Dreadful History of Chinese and Russian Dictatorships Continues

That’s not an academic description of the Putin and Xi regimes; it’s an accurate account of how they came to power and how they’ve held onto it.

Regarding Xi, he isn’t doing anything that hasn’t been done by prior leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), especially by the founder himself, Mao Zedong. Mao was responsible for tens of millions of deaths and immense suffering.

Since the beginning of his rule in 2012, Xi has handled his challengers by either imprisoning, reeducating, or “retiring” them. There is plenty of evidence that Xi has engaged in all three as recently as this year. He has also presided over the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people over the years.

As for Putin, his critics tend to get poisoned, thrown out the windows of tall buildings, or end up in jail. The reason is as basic as it can be: Dictators stay in power by killing people. Often, it’s by killing in great numbers. Putin’s total is far short of his aforementioned predecessors, but his war against Ukraine is racking up his death count quite significantly each day.

Immortality

It’s interesting that in discussing immortality, Putin noted that “biotechnology is continuously developing,” which, of course, is true. The advances in organ regeneration via stem cells, for example, are extraordinary.

But apparently, Putin wasn’t referring to organ regeneration, nor was he referring to eating right, exercising regularly, and cutting back on carbs and sugars. Rather, he was talking about using other people’s organs to live forever.

“Human organs can be continuously transplanted. The longer you live, the younger you become, and [you can] even achieve immortality,” Putin said through his translator.

Xi didn’t miss a beat and was seemingly quite familiar with the topic, replying through a translator that, “Predictions are, this century, there is also a chance of living to 150.”

As for forced organ harvesting, if anyone would know about it, it would be Xi and the CCP. China is the world’s leading trafficker of human organs, forcefully taken from unwilling donors that Xi and the CCP don’t like or care about, such as Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, and political dissidents. Every year, between 60,000 and 100,000 people with an average age of 28 are murdered for their organs.

Judgment Day Is Every Dictator’s Darkest Fear

But as a purported atheist, why should Xi want to live forever? The burden of his legacy of death and suffering would only grow heavier year after year.

Is it because he fears the eternal silence of nonexistence?

Could be. But if there’s only nothingness after death, as any atheist will affirm, logically, there is literally nothing to fear after death.

And Putin? He says he believes in God and affiliates himself with Russian Orthodox Christianity. There are political reasons for doing so, but given his past in the brutal KGB and his current penchant for violence and war, it is doubtful that he’s a believer. If he is, then he would know that he will have to answer for his actions.

Whatever either dictator affirms publicly, it may be that in their heart of hearts, each knows that there is a God who rules over this Earth and all of us in it and that He will judge each according to either their faith or their works.

If that is the case, avoiding such an inevitable judgment may well be the motivation for both to seek immortality.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.