China orders Reuters to pull viral Putin-Xi longevity video
Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping (Getty Images)
Chinese state television has revoked the legal license to use material showing Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussing longevity, Reuters reports.
Reuters withdrew a four-minute video containing dialogue between Putin and Xi. In the footage, they discussed the possibility of humans living up to 150 years.
The video included exchanges captured on an open microphone during a military parade in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. It was licensed by the Chinese state television network, China Central Television (CCTV).
Reuters compiled these clips into a four-minute video and distributed it to more than 1,000 global media clients, including major international news broadcasters and TV stations worldwide.
Other news agencies licensed by CCTV also circulated the edited footage.
However, by Friday, Reuters removed the video from its website and issued a "kill" order to its clients following a written request from CCTV's lawyer.
The letter stated that the news agency had exceeded the terms of its usage agreement. It also criticized the "editorial treatment applied to this material" by Reuters, though it did not provide further details.
In a statement, Reuters said it withdrew the video because it no longer has a legal license to publish copyrighted material.
Notably, the video and the conversation between Xi and Putin were widely circulated by broadcasters and on social media worldwide.
Do dictators want to live forever?
At the Beijing military parade, Putin and Xi discussed human longevity. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, 41, was also present.
The conversation, recorded on an open microphone and broadcast by Chinese state media, touched on modern medical technologies and prospects for life extension.
"Earlier, people rarely lived to 70, but these days at 70 years you are still a child," Xi said.
Putin responded that people could continue receiving organ transplants. He added that modern medical developments, including organ replacement surgery, could have social, political, and economic consequences that allow humanity to hope for a significant increase in life expectancy.
Xi Jinping also spoke about the possibility of an extremely long life.
"Predictions are, this century, there's a chance of also living to 150," he said.
Interestingly, after the conversation leaked online, China banned searches for information about living up to 150 years.
