In a chat picked up by a hot mic, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping talk about the possibility of organ transplants allowing people to live up to 150 years. China has never adopted a clear and transparent system for organ donation. Despite new regulations, forced organ harvesting reportedly continues, especially from members of minorities.

Gazprom's CEO announced a “legally binding agreement" with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The pipeline, which Russia has been pushing for years, could supply up to 50 billion cubic metres of gas per year to China over 30 years. For Russia, it would be vital to offset lost markets in Europe. Chinese media have been silent on the details that have blocked the agreement so far.

The Shanghai Co-operation Organisation condemns last April’s attack in Kashmir that sparked border fighting between India and Pakistan, but also terrorist attacks in Balochistan, which Islamabad blames on New Delhi. Modi, unlike his Pakistani counterpart Shahbaz Sharif, avoided expressing support for the Belt and Road Initiative. For China, despite tensions in South Asia, multilateralism remains the best option for building an anti-US bloc.

China continues to violate the rights and abuse Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the western region. Victims' families are silenced and threatened. Those waiting for the return of a relative from detention centres tell their stories. For Brooks, Amnesty’s China Director, “lives have been destroyed, families separated, and communities dismantled by the Chinese authorities’ continuing cruelty.”

Cyberbullying is growing among young people in China, through the dissemination of personal information to harm victims. Lonely and vengeful minors under 16 act without consequences finding a false sense of power, due to a legislative gap. The government is fighting back, while some stories show the possibility of redemption from online abuse.

Next Saturday Taiwanese voters are set to approve or reject the reactivation of the Maanshan plant in a referendum called by the opposition after the country's last plant shut down in May after 40 years of operation. After Fukushima, environmentalists have achieved a gradual phase-out, but fears that China might stop natural gas supplies are now reviving the issue. For its part, China has 33 plants under construction.