The most notorious “hot mic” moment came at the height of the Cold War, when then US president Ronald Reagan declared: “We begin bombing in five minutes” before a nationwide address (which was fortunately pre-recorded, so that the warning was never broadcast). But the bizarre snatches of conversation caught in translation between the leaders of Russia and China this week have to come as a near-second.
If the question is, what do global autocrats chat about when left to make small talk, then the answer here appeared to be organ transplants and the potential they might offer for longer, if not eternal, life. As to whether the whole episode could have been fabricated for propaganda purposes, the utterly leftfield nature of the topic suggests absolutely not.
