Possibly, the moment that has given the most to speak in the media during the military parade in China has not been the power shown by Beijing, but a conversation that lasted less than a minute among the leaders of China and Russia. “Before, it was rare to reach 70, but today, at 70, one is still a child,” Xi commented. “Reach immortality,” Putin replied.
Because eternal “youth” has been a purpose of the president for years.
An open micro. What happened was that an open microphone captured an unexpected conversation between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin that showed not only his personal concerns, but also how biotechnology is crossed with geopolitics. XI commented that in this century it could be possible for humans to live up to 150 years (“It is forecast that, in this century, you can also live up to 150“He said), while Putin, through a translator, spoke of organ transplants as a way towards perpetual youth and even” immortality. “
The scene, broadcast live on Chinese state television, offered an unusual intimate vision of two septuagenarian leaders who have eliminated mandate and maneuverado limits to prolong their permanence in power.
An obsession. The Russian president later confirmed the content of the talk, stressing that medical and surgical advances open the possibility of a much longer life. For years he has converted longevity into political priority, ordering his Ministry of Health to work in this field and encouraging state projects such as those of Rosatom, which claims to be developing techniques to “print” human organs in the laboratory.
His personal interest in health is notorious: during the pandemic he imposed strict quarantine who were to meet with him and has promoted constitutional changes that would allow him to continue in power until 2036, when he would be 83 years old.
In search of immortality. The Times had in a report that, in a context marked by the war in Ukraine and the demographic crisis that hits Russia, an official commission highlighted the priorities of the Kremlin elite: scientists from different institutions had received urgent orders to focus their research on anti -aging therapies, cell regeneration, immune reinforcement and advanced biomedicine 3D bioimpression of organs.
The initiative was linked to Mikhail Kovalchuk, 77, a nuclear physicist, president of the Kurchátov Institute and Putin’s intimate friend, known both for his political influence and for his personal obsessions. Kovalchuk also supervises a state genetic program in which the president’s eldest daughter, María Vorontsova, endocrinologist of training participates.
Personal and political objective. Kovalchuk was described in the report as “crazy” by the idea of eternal life, and it would have been the one who took the project directly to Putin, triggering a waterfall of ministerial orders that demanded immediate results.
For some scientists, the mandate touched the absurd, by allocating resources to prolong the life of a septuagenarian elite while hundreds of thousands of young Russians die or are mutilated in the front. A source of the National Medical Center itself defined it as “pure cynicism”, by prioritizing the rejuvenation of aged leaders on the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers.
Conspiracy beliefs and esotericism. The background of these initiatives was mixed with the conspiracy vision that Putin and Kovalchuk share. The latter has affirmed that the West develops biological weapons specifically directed against ethnic Russians and that the United States would have created a “subspecies of servants” with limited self -consciousness.
Such ideas are intertwined with practices of doubtful scientific basis: Putin, despite having access to the best healing, is allegedly submitted to bathrooms with Siberian deer horns extracts, a folkloric treatment that in Russia is attributed to rejuvenating and aphrodisiac properties.
Pioneers of longevity. The death last year of Vladimir Khavinson, the main Russian longevity investigator marked the end of an influential figure in the development of rejuvenating drugs allegedly used by Soviet leaders such as Brézhnev.
Although there are no solid evidence of its effectiveness, characters such as Valentina Matviyenko, president of the Federation Council, or Alina Kabáeva, rumored couple of Putin, are among those who would have resorted to their treatments. Its scientific legacy, halfway between biomedical research and pseudoscience, reflects the ambiguity of Russian policy in this field.
The transhumanist dream. Beyond the efforts of the Kremlin, private figures also promote radical projects: Dmitri ITSKOV, Russian billionaire, finances for years an initiative to transfer human consciousness to artificial supports in 2035, with the promise of an indefinite life.
In neighboring Kazakhstan, former president Nursultán Nazarbáyev claimed in 2010 that his scientists decipher the secret of immortality, although at 84 he is still waiting for the fruits of that effort. Examples that illustrate how the aspiration to prolong life has become a recurring obsession between postsoviet elites.
Chinese ambition. Returning to the meeting that took place yesterday with that audio between both leaders, by XI, he remembered the New York Times that until now had avoided speaking in public about longevity in such ambitious terms as Putin, but showed that he shares at least the fascination for an extended life.
At 72, he has suppressed the limits of mandate and seeks a fourth period in 2027 without having indicated a successor, which makes his physical and political stability intertwined. His reference to the 150 years of life would fit with his speech to “take care of the elderly” and guarantee well -being in old age, although in his public image they already make visible age signs such as gray hair, in contrast to the tradition of leaders who hide their aging.
Historical context. Be that as it may, the moment occurred while both leaders, accompanied by Kim Jong-un, ascended to the Tiananmén Puerta tribune to witness a parade that showed the most advanced arsenal of China (although not everything). That exhibition of military power, together with the conversation captured at random, reflects the contrast between the ambition to perpetuate itself in power and the ability to project strength globally.
The longevity, both personal and political, thus becomes a shared obsession: prolonging life not only of the leaders, but of the power system they represent. Between the sciencesymbolism and geopolitics, the conversation suggests that both Moscow and Beijing see in the “extension” of life a metaphor of their deepest objective: to ensure that their political model survives as much as they do.
Imagen | Kremlin, Office of the President of Russia
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