The international news agency Reuters was forced to delete a four-minute video showing a conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin about the possibilities of extending life. This step was taken on the basis of a requirement imposed by China Central Television (CCTV).
This conversation was recorded during a ceremonial parade in Beijing dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Second World War. During the conversation, Xi Jinping looked back at the past and said: "In the past, people rarely lived to 70, but now at this age, a person is still considered young." Putin emphasized that progress in biotechnology and organ transplantation can bring humanity closer to eternity. Xi, in turn, added that "the possibility of living up to 150 years can be realized in this century."
Reuters edited a video based on material taken from a Chinese television broadcast and distributed it to thousands of viewers worldwide. However, CCTV's legal department assessed the situation as a violation of the terms and demanded that the agency remove the video.
As a result, the video was deleted, but Reuters did not fully accept the objections. "We carefully examined the materials and found no grounds to question Reuters's long-standing commitment to the principles of impartial and accurate journalism," the agency stated.
Thus, the conversation between the two leaders, their views on life expectancy and biotechnology, caused widespread public discussion.
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