Topics: News, Politics, US News, Vladimir Putin, World News, Health, Science
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, were seen walking alongside one another today (3 September) and part of their conversation has since been picked up by microphones broadcasting the event.
The two world leaders gathered with North Korea's Kim Jong Un at the head of a delegation of more than two dozen foreign leaders to view a military parade in Beijing, marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, which featured more than 50,000 spectators.
The moment was broadcast 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.
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As Putin, who arrived in China on Sunday (31 August) for the summit, 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'.
Xi, who was off camera, could then be heard responding in Chinese: "Some predict that in this century humans may live to 150 years old.
"Earlier, people rarely lived to 70, but these days at 70 years you are still a child."
Both Putin and Xi are currently 72 years old.
The North Korean dictator, meanwhile, could be seen smiling and looking in the direction of Putin and Xi as the rare hot-mic conversation took place; however, it wasn’t clear if the conversation was being translated for him.
The exchange lasted just a few seconds before CCTV quickly cut to a wide shot of Tiananmen Square, with the audio fading.
Moments later, all three leaders reappeared on screen as they headed toward the viewing platform.
Neither the Russian government nor China’s foreign ministry has commented on the hot-mic moment at the time of writing.
The parade in question showcased advanced Chinese weaponry, including hypersonic missiles and naval drones.
Addressing the crowd, Xi warned that the world faced a choice between 'peace or war'.
During the visit, Putin and Xi signed more than 20 agreements ranging on matters from energy cooperation to artificial intelligence, and pledged to build a major new gas pipeline.
