Xi and Putin talk biotechnology and immortality

While citizens in China and Russia face economic crises, political repression, and censorship of their most basic freedoms, their leaders, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, held a conversation that has stirred controversy in the West. Walking together, both rulers reflected on biotechnology, medical advances, and the possibility that human beings could live up to 150 years—or even aspire to immortality.

“Before, people rarely lived to 70, but today, at 70 you are still a child. With the development of biotechnology, human organs can be continuously transplanted, allowing people to live younger and younger and potentially achieve immortality,” they reportedly said. According to these predictions, this very century could see people reach 150 years of life.

A futuristic vision with a disturbing backdrop

What might sound like a conversation inspired by science and progress actually exposes the stark contrast between the longevity dreams of two dictators and the harsh realities of their peoples. In China, millions remain subjected to unprecedented mass surveillance, “re-education” camps for ethnic minorities, and censorship that erases all dissent online. In Russia, Putin persecutes opponents, shuts down independent media, and wages an aggressive war in Ukraine that has cost thousands of lives.

What good is it to talk about living 150 years when daily life in their countries is marked by fear, repression, and lack of opportunity? The paradox is clear: while Xi and Putin fantasize about immortality, they deny their citizens the most basic right of all—living in freedom.

The manipulation of science as a tool of power

Historically, totalitarian regimes have sought to exploit science and technology not for the benefit of humanity but to consolidate their power. Today, Xi and Putin’s discourse on biotechnology and life extension must be read in that light: not as a commitment to global health, but as an elitist project where only Communist Party and Kremlin elites would access such “miracles,” while the rest of the population remains in misery.

In the West, science is conceived as a public good, a driver of innovation for all. Under authoritarian systems, biotechnology risks becoming a privilege of the state—a new form of social control and a tool to perpetuate oppressive regimes.

The Republican response: science with ethics and freedom

In contrast, the Republican stance in the United States is clear: scientific progress must be accompanied by ethics, transparency, and respect for human dignity. President Donald Trump’s administration made this clear by betting on medical innovation—always within the framework of individual freedom and the defense of life.

Advances in biotechnology—such as organ transplants, regenerative therapies, and new treatments against disease—are sources of hope, but only if they are directed at improving people’s lives rather than serving totalitarian projects. Trump and Republicans have defended investment in science but reject its use as a tool of control or propaganda.

Conclusion: longevity without freedom is not life

The conversation between Xi and Putin about “living 150 years” reveals the detachment of two leaders who govern thinking of themselves, not their people. A long life under repression and slavery is not progress—it is an extended sentence.

The United States, under the Republican vision, has the responsibility to remind the world that the true greatness of life is not measured in accumulated years but in the freedom and dignity with which it is lived every day. Science must pave the way to a future of opportunity, not become the toy of dictators seeking to eternalize their power.

Source - LaVanguardia