(Minghui.org) A conversation between Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on September 3 was reported in major news outlets, including the BBC, drawing worldwide attention.
Xi said, “In the past, it used to be rare for someone to be older than 70 and these days they say that at 70 one is still a child.”
Putin replied, “With the development of biotechnology, human organs can be continuously transplanted, and people can live younger and younger, and even achieve immortality.”
Xi continued, “Predictions are, this century, there’s a chance of also living to 150 [years old].”
Putin later confirmed his conservation with Xi. “Modern recovery methods, medical methods, even surgical ones dealing with the replacement of organs, enable humanity to hope for active lives to last longer than it does today,” Russian state news agency Tass quoted Putin’s remarks in an article.
The PLA General Hospital
This conversation call to mind two incidents that took place in China: Senior CCP official Gao Zhanxiang underwent organ transplant surgery, and the PLA General Hospital advertised that it was working on a project that aims to extend one’s lifespan to as long as 150 years.
Gao was formerly the Deputy Minister of Culture and was 87 when he died on December 9, 2022. In his eulogy, Zhu Yongxin, a standing member of the 12th National Committee of China’s Political Consultative Conference, wrote, “Over the years, Gao has battled his illnesses with strong willpower. Quite a few of his organs were replaced. He even said jokingly, ‘Many parts aren’t mine anymore.’”
After this eulogy was published, netizens asked where the organs came from. Some speculated they came from forced organ harvesting, a CCP-led crime that targets Falun Gong practitioners and other ordinary citizens. Forced organ harvesting in China has been well-documented by multiple independent investigations. In addition, Hu Xinyu, a high school student who went missing on October 14, 2022, was believed to be a victim of organ harvesting.
The ad by the PLA General Hospital (also known as the 301 Hospital) was broadly circulated on WeChat in September 2019. It claimed that after 60 years of development, a so-called Leadership Healthcare Program made “significant progress” and was the best in the world. According to the ad, the average lifespan of CCP leaders exceeds those in Western countries, reaching 88 years by 2008.
The ad also mentioned a “981 Leaders Health Project” launched in 2005, with a goal of extending the human lifespan to 150 years. At the time, this project was seen as a rumor, but the recent conversation between Xi and Putin puts it in a new light. But how far can modern science really extend one’s life, and can one truly live forever?
Cultivation Practice and Immortality
People have searched for ways to transcend death since ancient times. This is different from seeking longevity, however. The latter focuses on the physical body, while the former seeks immortality through enlightenment and improving one’s mind and soul–an approach known as cultivation. According to the ancient Chinese classic, I Ching, “What’s beyond form is called Tao; what has a form is called an implement.” The Tao is subtle and profound, and it is passed down from a master to a chosen disciple.
Zhang Guolao and Zhang Sanfeng are two well-known immortals in Chinese history. To find the ultimate truth (Tao, or Way)—why we came to this world and where we are headed—Zhang Sanfeng traveled extensively, achieved enlightenment, and explained the Tao in his writings.
Zhang wrote that secular longevity is different from immortality achieved through cultivating oneself. The former means a longer and happier life in this world, while the latter means eternal existence. Distancing oneself from the world’s tensions and conflicts and leading a favorable lifestyle improves a person’s health and leads to longevity. An eternal life comes from maintaining a pure heart and cherishing virtue.
Cherishing Virtue and Avoiding Karma
There are numerous historical records of people living beyond the normal lifespan. Thomas Parr, an Englishman born in 1482 (or 1483), lived for 152 years and died in 1635. He ate a simple diet of “subrancid cheese and milk in every form, coarse and hard bread and small drink, generally sour whey. On this sorry fare, but living in his home, free from care, did this poor man attain to such length of days,” wrote physician William Harvey.
Manpei from Mikawa Shuiquan Village in Japan was said to have lived for 242 years and his wife lived 221 years. Their method was moxibustion of the Sanli acupuncture point, which was probably introduced to Japan by Jianzhen, a well-known Chinese monk during the Tang Dynasty. In addition, following a simple lifestyle and paying attention to virtue bring longevity, while doing bad deeds harms both oneself and others.
The reason spiritual cultivation can extend one’s life is that practitioners of cultivation ways strive to reach higher moral standards by aligning themselves with the principles that underlie heaven, earth, and the universe. Buddhist tradition considers the “five afflictions” of attachment, anger, ignorance, pride, and jealousy as the roots of harmful actions that bring karma upon oneself.
While cultivators view the human body as a divine creation, modern medicine treats the body as a machine with replaceable parts. The contemporary approach does alleviate conditions in the short term, but it does not address the underlying moral and karmic causes of illness. From this perspective, organ transplantation is not the best way to extend one’s life.
The human desire to live longer is only natural, but it is worth considering what immortality really means. To people of faith, one’s true home is in the heavens above. To those who view their stay in this world as a transitory journey that serves a higher purpose, there is far greater meaning in seeking true immortality through spiritual elevation than pursuing longevity of the human body through mechanical means.
The conversation between Xi and Putin not only lays bare their atheistic, transhumanist worldview, but also shows the importance of the CCP’s forced organ harvesting industry in the regime’s eyes. Those in China who take organs from unwilling donors such as detained Falun Gong practitioners are committing a heinous crime and will ultimately be held to account.
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Category: News Commentary
