At Notorious Tiananmen Square, Xi and Putin Laugh About Living off the Dead to Cheat Death
This week at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square military parade, a hot mic captured an extraordinarily revealing exchange between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Discussing biotechnology and organ transplants, the two appeared to contemplate human longevity—possibly even immortality—framing it as a matter of science, statecraft, and power. This slip was broadcast live across China and around the world, drawing sharp scrutiny from international observers. Pre-Order Jan Jekielek’s new book, KILLED TO ORDER
Senior editor with the Epoch Times, Jan Jekielek, is extremely familiar with the practice of forced organ harvesting and has written a book on the subject, entitled “Killed To Order”. Joshua Philipp, Senior Investigative reporter at the Epoch Times can talk about the insidious long term goals, strategies, and tactics of the CCP. Leeshai Lemish is an emcee with Shen Yun Performing Arts who suffered significant bodily harm when demonstrating at Tiananmen Square in 2001. Ben Maloney is a social media and technology expert with Falun Dafa who breaks down the digital warfare techniques used by the CCP.
Watch Trailer to Documentary Film STATE ORGANS
The incident didn’t just embarrass two of the globe’s most powerful men—it reopened wounds at one of history’s most symbolic sites. Tiananmen Square remains a somber memorial to state brutality and the massacre of peaceful protestors in 1989. To joke casually at that very location about “continuous organ transplants,” longevity science, and defying human mortality—amid a display of military might—was a jarring fusion of dark humor and authoritarian projection.
According to translations of the remarks, Putin’s interpreter suggested that human organs could be continuously transplanted and that immortality might be within reach. Xi reportedly responded by noting that some predict humans may live to 150 years within this century. The comments have been widely dismissed by medical experts as unscientific and fantastical. Yet for critics of China’s human rights record, especially its documented abuses in organ harvesting from prisoners and persecuted groups, the offhand exchange carried a chilling resonance.
In the United States, the conversation has already sparked political concern. Representative Chris Smith renewed his calls for passage of the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act, warning that the remarks highlight not only ethical dilemmas but also the unsettling casualness with which authoritarian leaders treat the sanctity of human life. This incident has reignited debate about whether regimes like those in Moscow and Beijing see people as expendable means to political ends, even in matters of science and medicine.
For Jan Jekielek, this story offers an opportunity to explore the collision of technological fantasy and historical atrocity. Tiananmen is both a site of resistance and a backdrop to new intimidation, and now it has become the stage for authoritarian leaders joking about outliving mortality itself. This hot-mic moment is more than just a gaffe. It is a revealing glimpse into how fantasies of power and immortality intersect with a history of persecution, raising profound questions about human rights, scientific ethics, and the authoritarian vision for the future.
Relevant Article(s)
Xi, Putin, and Kim Discuss Organ Transplants and Living to 150 in Hot Mic Moment | NTD
OPTIONAL Q&A:
- What was your first reaction when you heard Putin and Xi casually discussing organ transplants and human immortality on a hot mic?
- How does the location of Tiananmen Square, with its history of the 1989 massacre, intensify the symbolism of this exchange?
- Do these remarks reflect genuine scientific ambition, or are they more about projecting authoritarian power and control?
- What does this moment reveal about how Putin and Xi view human life and its expendability?
- How does the history of forced organ harvesting in China give their comments a darker, more sinister edge?
- Why has this incident immediately sparked political calls in the United States, particularly around legislation targeting organ harvesting abuses?
- Could this be seen as a glimpse into how authoritarian leaders imagine the future—combining technology, intimidation, and the quest for immortality?
- What should the international community take away from this hot mic moment, and how should it respond?
ABOUT JAN JEKIELEK…
Jan Jekielek is senior editor with The Epoch Times, host of the show “American Thought Leaders” and was co-host of “FALLOUT” with Dr. Robert Malone and “Kash’s Corner” with now FBI Director Kash Patel. Years ago Jan studied the evolutionary biology of lemurs in Madagascar, and his life took an unexpected turn. Exposed to the realities of human rights violations in China, he ended up working with an underground railroad bringing Chinese dissidents through the Golden Triangle to Bangkok and ultimately to Western countries. It was then that he realized that telling unknown heroes’ stories was transformative, both for him and audiences.
Determined to tell true stories, Jan started working with The Epoch Times 20 years ago, at a time when popular narratives in the West hid the dark underbelly of communist China. He did some of the earliest reporting on the Chinese regime’s continuing practice of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, and he’s the author of the upcoming book, “Killed to Order: China’s Organ Harvesting Industry and the True Nature of America’s Biggest Adversary.”
Over the last five years, he has interviewed over a thousand thought leaders on camera, including heads of state, multiple U.S. cabinet secretaries and agency heads, and congressional members.
Jan specializes in long-form discussions that challenge assumptions. He’s also an award-winning documentary filmmaker, producing “DeSantis: Florida vs. Lockdowns,” “The Unseen Crisis: Vaccine Stories You Were Never Told,” and the “optimistic” Holocaust documentary “Finding Manny.”
ABOUT JOSHUA PHILIPP…
Joshua Philipp is an award-winning journalist and Senior Investigative Reporter at The Epoch Times. He is the host of ‘Crossroads,’ a news and analysis program on EpochTV. His works have included breakthrough investigations into the origins of Covid-19 and the Wuhan laboratory in the early days of the pandemic. He spearheaded the first documentary on the lab leak origins of the COVID-19 virus, released in April 2020. This groundbreaking documentary garnered over 75 million views, and while many tried to label it misinformation, its findings have since been vindicated by the White House and US intelligence agencies.
EXPERT ANALYSIS FROM JOSHUA PHILIPP
Joshua Philipp, senior investigative reporter at The Epoch Times and a recognized China expert, has mapped out these networks during his 15-plus years of research into the CCP. He provides a deeper context on the CCP’s attempts to subvert the systems and institutions in the United States. As the Chinese regime states, they aim to “strangle you with your own systems,” and that tactic is playing out across key industries and institutions in the US.
Josh is also a leading expert on Chinese unconventional warfare and United Front operations, which he has investigated and exposed since 2008. His 15-plus years of research and investigations on the Chinese Communist Party, subversion, human rights abuses and related topics give him unique insight into the global threat and political landscape.
ABOUT LEESHAI LEMISH…
Leeshai Lemish has been with Shen Yun for 18 years. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Chinese history and language from Pomona College, California, and his master’s in international relations from the London School of Economics. He has spent extended periods studying, working, and conducting research throughout East Asia, and has authored articles on Chinese current affairs in both English and Chinese.
Lemish joined Shen Yun Performing Arts as an MC when the company was founded in 2006 and has since emceed close to two thousand performances with the company, taking the stage with Shen Yun at prestigious theaters such as Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center, the London Coliseum, Tokyo Opera City, and many others worldwide. In addition to his performance role, he has tracked and documented on his website over 100 cases of the Chinese Communist Party and its agents trying to sabotage Shen Yun internationally. He has testified on transnational repression in front of Congress, has been a featured guest on television and radio shows around the world, and is the host of the podcast Shen Yun Voices.
CONTACT:
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CONTACT: Todd Baumann at 512-966-0983 or by email Jerry McGlothlin at bookings@specialguests.com.
