'Living to 150': Expert Breaks Down China's Secret Longevity Program

Welcome to China in Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story, a secretive health program for the elite only. A goal to live to 150. China's Project 981 back in the spotlight after she and Putin caught on hot mic last week. A veteran China analyst says the Chinese Communist Party may be using forced organ transplants to allow party elites to live longer. Industrial scale organ harvesting. So actually in the 2005 under the then leader Jangzaming and the Huin Tao there was a major upgrade to that program. The new element at that time was the development of the organ transplantation from the medical phenomenon into a inhuman industrial chain in China. A whopping 2.5 billion in US tax dollars are aiding the Chinese Communist Party's military industry. That's according to a new congressional investigation. A US congressman impersonated in a Chinese hacking scheme. The latest on how Representative John Molinar was targeted and why. [Music] Behind the red curtain of power in China, the elite live by a very different set of rules. From food and clothing to housing and transportation, Chinese Communist Party leaders operate under a parallel system entirely separate from the lives of ordinary citizens. One example is Project 981. It's a secret healthcare and longevity program designed exclusively for China's elites. The goal is to help leaders live to 150 years old. Oregon regeneration is one of its key priorities. The program was first exposed in 2019 and is back in the spotlight now after a hot mic moment involving Xiinping and Vladimir Putin. At a military parade last week, they were caught discussing immortality and organ transplants. While staterun CCTV moved to quickly censor footage of the conversation both inside and outside of China, the phrase live to 150 is now lighting up search engines across China. So, what is Project 981? China's project 981 was launched in 2005 and is focused on longevity and organ regeneration. Its official name is the 981 health project for top leaders. The project is run by military hospitals, most notably the People's Liberation Army's 301 hospital in Beijing. In 2019, the hospital advertised an ambitious plan on social media to help party leaders live to 150 years old. The hospital also claimed that by 2008, Chinese leaders had an average lifespan of 88 years, 10 years longer than their counterparts in the US and the UK. The ad was swiftly scrubbed from the internet the following day. But now, 6 years later, at the military parade, Xiinping seems to have unwittingly confirmed it live on staterun TV. The goal of helping leaders live to 150 was set in 2005, publicly advertised in 2019 and in 2025, seemingly confirmed by Hijin Ping himself. The cost of this elite only healthcare program remains unknown. It's shielded under the same veil of secrecy as the Chinese Communist Party's official budget. And even more noteworthy, the timing of Project 981's inception coincides closely with the rapid expansion of China's organ transplant industry and mounting international concerns over evidence of forced organ harvesting from living people. It's a story the Chinese regime doesn't want the world to hear. A secretive medical program, an alleged organ supply chain, and a promise of longevity for the powerful. It's all resurfacing after a viral hot mic moment. Senior China analyst Alan Jen helps us unpack the chilling backstory. Alan Jen, thank you so much for joining us. Great to have you on the show. Uh, thank you. Thank you for inviting me. Now, the hot mic moment between China's she and Russia's Vladimir Putin are still making the headlines to the point that, you know, some media have actually taken it down due to pressure from the Chinese regime. Why do you think that hot mic moment is catching the public's attention so much? People often talk about longevity. Why do you think this moment is making the rounds? Why make a big deal of that? Actually, it's because of in the last I would say 20 years and uh there has been you know saying circling around about in China, Chinese government has been doing this organ harvesting to extend the longevity of their top leaders. It is something that people you know some people believe it the public generally you know is is looking at this with a suspicious but um this hot mic actually I think it alert the media actually the video came from CCTV's own footage okay actually as they recorded they they were not aware of it about that themselves but you know some media I think it's BBC you know they've been hearing this you know well with with a sensitive of a media they dug into it and then actually I think they amplify the volume to make this a matter but once that is made public then whoever has the insight about the the organ harvesting practice of the CCP or the Chinese government then they start to open it up then that touch the sensitive nerve because it it's something that really exist it does exist that's what I know I I've been reporting this for nearly 20 years okay and it does touch the sensitive nerve So they jump up, try to cover it up, but it's like, you know, water already spilled. They try to retrieve the spilled water. That's essentially what is happening. It's very, very awkward to them and only make this matter even bigger. A lot of people are asking, well, where are these where is this organ supply coming from that they're talking about just continuously transplanting, right? Well, you need bodies for that. So, who's providing all of these organs? Just shed a bit of light on that for us. Where is the bulk of this coming from? Okay, let's back up a little bit. Oh, there's a story behind this. just actually not long after the CCP establishes rule. Okay. um you know starting from the Mountaong era the party has been providing the top leadership with special medical you know protection and uh you know to the party their ruling class that's a privileged class okay so they have been treating their top leaders just like that always with special treatment special care and um so actually in the 2005 under the then leader Jangzaming under Hoing Tao there was a major upgrade to that program. It's called the 981 well 981 leader leaders health project. The most actually important the new element at that time was the development of the organ transplantation u from the medical phenomenon into a inhuman industrial chain in China. uh from the year 1999 to the year 2005 due to the persecution of fallong the CCP suddenly okay they obtain a previously unavailable and to them a precious organ bank okay basically detained fallong practitioners this is a meditation exercise group that is you know view um by the CCP as the enemy of the party so they retain many of them and they are they practice meditation they're very healthy okay and they took their organ and then transplant them to uh restore the you know failing health of uh party leaders. And actually in that six short years the number of liver transplantation in China grew from a a an accumulative 135 before 1999 to more than 15,000 in 2006. That's a astounding 180fold uh growth. That experience brought about this major upgrade of this uh to this 98 981 program and then about 10 years later okay by March 2014 this program has advanced to a full industrialization so in that month of that year in Beijing's uh okay hyen district the 981 health technology group company was established this 981 E1 company they have served over 3,000 they call it a million level leader members so they got 3,000 members elite members who could be their patients or the customers however you call it so in recent years what happened in China is there has been you know a lot of report about the high school students suddenly gone missing and then they may well be the source of you know live organ harvesting and uh because once this practice become become commercialized and the demand is surged and then the crime inevitably spread across the society. You need to understand that down down the down the chain there's um you know that there's other companies who saw this as you know they are the supplier of the organ and then then at that time about 10 years ago okay it's $100,000 for a uh kidney and uh 200 to $300,000 for for liver and then this has you know driven various you know illegal mean accidents um and persecution and even armed group okay using violence to obtain organs. That has been happening in China. So within the CCP's top class, when the organ failed, well, it's simply replaced and then they do that again and again. That way the top leader keeping keep you know keep living on and then they don't die well for a while. And then what is most scariest is this um Tiffany such a organ transplantation has become an important gift of CCP to bribe world leaders. They use this to corrupt world leaders. That's possibly one one reason the reason why Xiinping mentioned this in that group where you got like 20 to 30 you know leaders of those countries in in Beijing. So this is the I would say this is the general background that that I see it as you mentioned the 981 project right kind of this like special three tier system to help the their selected elites if you will live longer all these the best medical care best medical advances and so forth talk to us about that system because it sounds like you know what we've talked about so far there are different systems inside of China or different levels of care afforded to different types of people if you will right the Chinese leaders are one group and their friends and then how is that different from say the regular Chinese person on the road if they got sick what kind of care could they get yeah it's really just a two parallel world okay not even just the medical um how to say medical care actually of the the water they drink the food they eat the vegetable they they you know they eat the vegetable they grow you know for those top leaders they are all different system you know there's due to the um economic fast economic development uh one price that the China pay is the environmental um actually environmental cost there's a lot of pollutions however those top leaders of Chinese government you know the CCP they are not impacted by that and they have their own special garden a special farm uh special people serving them special and so starting at every step they are they basically they're just nobles they're modern day nobles without carrying the name of nobles and um Yeah, in China actually many people heard of it. Well, Alan Jen, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, Tiffany. US tax dollars are aiding the Chinese Communist Party's military industry. A new congressional investigation details how the CCP is exploiting taxpayers through joint collaboration between US and Chinese research projects. NTD's Molina Weissup reports. Hundreds of Pentagon grants valued at more than $2.5 billion dollars helped to fund sensitive research in collaboration with Chinese entities. The entities are tied to China's military industry, some already blacklisted by the US government. Republicans on the select committee on the CCP wrote, "There is no justification for US taxpayer funded research to be conducted with entities documented to have facilitated human rights abuses or support China's mass surveillance apparatus." The committee highlighting a concern that's lingered for years. And so what we found is that a lot of the research that is being done under this joint uh venture, if you will, um is benefiting the military. And of course, we know that the Chinese Communist Party is becoming more aggressive uh at home and around the world and is using every means to infiltrate uh our institutions and uh really disrupt our way of life. The new 80page committee report gave several examples. A nuclear scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington also held appointments at Chinese institutions. He used tax dollars from the Pentagonbacked research related to developing nuclear weapons. The Chinese regime acknowledged his work as contributing to national development goals. Chairman Molinar proposed legislation to require more transparency from federal researchers and stop the Pentagon from funding projects with links to blacklisted Chinese entities. The committee also made more than a dozen recommendations to the War Department, formerly known as the Department of Defense. Reporting from Washington DC, Molina Weissub, NTD News. Chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, John Mulinar, was impersonated in a cyber campaign traced back to China. A fake email with Molinar's name was sent to US trade groups, law firms, and government agencies back in July. The email asked these groups to review a draft bill put forward by Bulanar that targeted Beijing with sanctions. It seems the hackers wanted to know what these groups thought of the bill. Analysts say the attack came from AP41, a Chinese state sponsored hacking group. In response, Molinar stated that quote, "We will not be intimidated and will continue to expose these malign actions." The Trump administration is facing new pressure over its tariff policies. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson said on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that the outcome at the Supreme Court could affect billions in federal revenue. We would have to give a refund on about half the the tariffs which which would be terrible for the Treasury. You're prepared to give those refunds? Well, I mean there's no be prepared if the court says it. We'd have to do it. The US Court of Appeals ruled 7 to4 in August that the president overstepped his authority by using emergency powers to impose duties. Solicitor General Dean John Sauer said has already asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, warning the ruling could jeopardize ongoing trade negotiations. Besson said there are other avenues to imposing tariffs, but did not offer any details. White House economic adviser Kevin Hasset told CBS the administration has other legal tools it could use which led the president restrict imports on or pressure countries into trade talks after investigation. Here's an update on last week's arrest of hundreds of illegal immigrants working at a South Korean auto plant in Georgia. President Trump says he'll look into the situation and added that it hasn't affected his relationship with South Korea. entities Daniel Monahan has more. President Trump painted the ICE raid on the Hyundai car battery facility in Georgia as a complex one. When they're building batteries, uh if you don't have people in this country right now that know about batteries, maybe we should help them along and let some people come in and train our people to do, you know, complex things. The president says the US has lost footing in a number of industries that his administration is now trying to revive. and we're going to have to train people. And the way you train people is bring people in that know what they're doing and let them stay for a little while and help. Trump says the investments of foreign countries are welcome. And the US encourages them to legally bring in their experts to build worldclass products. The president vowed to expedite the visa process for such workers, asking that they hire and train American workers in return. At the same time, ICE was doing right because they were here illegally. GST in position on True Social. Trump called on all foreign companies investing in the United States to respect America's immigration laws. About 475 workers were arrested in the raid, the largest single site enforcement action in the Department of Homeland Security's history. More than 300 of them were South Korean nationals. As a result of swift and united efforts by government ministries, business groups, and companies, talks for the release of the detained workers have been concluded. South Korea says it will seek ways to improve the visa system of Korean workers traveling to the US to prevent a similar incident. Soul will send a charter plane to bring the workers back once the remaining administrative steps are concluded. The majority of the detainees were sent to an immigration detention center in Folkston, Georgia, near the Florida border. The Hyundai plant, still under construction, is a joint venture with LG Energy Solution to produce batteries for electric vehicles. Daniel Monahan, NTD News. Coming up, Russia launched the biggest air attack against Ukraine over the weekend. It has set the main government building on fire for the first time since the war began. China's exports to the US plunged by a third last month and US exports to China also saw a sharp drop. We take a closer look that and more in just a minute here on China in Focus. Welcome back to China in Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Now to Ukraine. Officials say a Russian strike has set the main government building on fire. Here are the details. Russia launched its largest air attack on Ukraine since the start of the war, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Sunday, counting more than 800 drones and 13 missiles fired at targets across the country. Authorities said it killed at least four, including one baby, and set fire to the seat of government. Ukraine's Prime Minister, Julius Firidenko, said it was the first time the main government building in central Kev had been hit. In a video said to be recorded from the inside of the damaged building, she said it showed Russia was not seeking peace and called on allies to help beef up Ukraine's air defenses. Elsewhere in the city, residential blocks were also struck where officials said an infant's body was pulled out from under the rubble. Russia's defense ministry said it had carried out strikes on Ukraine's military industrial complex and transport infrastructure. According to the TAS news agency, both sides deny targeting civilians, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zalinski said he spoke with French President Emanuel Macron after the attack, coordinating diplomatic efforts and next steps. European allies have vowed to stand by Ukraine politically and militarily, but concrete offers of assistance are still being discussed. Russian President Vladimir Putin has pushed back on calls for a ceasefire. Emboldened by strengthening relations with China, US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he is ready to move to a second stage of sanctioning Russia, but stopped short of saying what that entails. Trump has expressed growing frustration with Moscow. But despite repeatedly threatening further sanctions, he has so far resisted making the move. Also on Sunday, Ukraine's military said it launched an overnight attack on the Drewba oil pipeline in Russia's Briansk region, saying it inflicted comprehensive fire damage. Reuters could not independently verify the report. It confirmed the location of the video released by drone forces commander Robert Brovdy, but could not verify the date it was recorded. Kiev says its strikes on Russian energy targets are in response to Moscow's continued attacks on Ukraine and aim to undermine its overall war effort. There was no immediate comment from Russia. On Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besson said the US and European Union must work together to collapse the Russian economy. President Trump has imposed secondary sanctions on India for buying Russian oil. It's one of Russia's key ways to fund its war in Ukraine. Chinese exports to the US took a major hit in August, dropping 33%. Customs data from Monday shows that US exports to China also fell, down 16% compared to a year ago. The slowdown comes as the Trump administration cracks down on trans shshipments of goods to the US. That's when Chinese goods are routed through other countries like Singapore or Mexico to avoid US tariffs. In response, Washington imposed a 40% duty back in July on any shipment it suspects of being a trans shipment. China's growth is now at its weakest in 6 months. Beijing has been trying to boost trade with other Asian countries and the European Union to counter trade tensions with Washington, but the US remains China's largest trading partner with nearly $283 billion in imports so far this year. Despite ongoing tensions, the two sides extended their tariff truce for another 90 days. Washington's tariffs on Beijing's goods stay at 55% while Beijing keeps a 30% tariff on Washington's exports. But the peace is fragile. President Trump has threatened tariffs as high as 200% if China doesn't follow through on its pledge to increase rare earth shipments. For now, exports of rare earth materials to the US are up nearly 23% as of August. South Korea and Japan are boosting their military cooperation with the US. On Monday, their defense ministers agreed to maintain close ties with Washington, focusing on North Korea's nuclear threats and its growing relationship with Russia. This comes after China's recent military parade, which North Korea's regime leader Kim Jong-un attended. It marks the first visit by a Japanese defense minister to South Korea in a decade. The two nations also plan to collaborate on advanced military technologies, including AI, unmanned systems, and aerospace. That's all for today's China in Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. If you have any feedback on the show or have something you'd like to see us cover, send us an email at chinainfocusd.com. We'd love to hear from you. For roundtheclock original news coverage, visit us at ntd.com or download our NTD app. Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow. [Music] [Music]