China, Russia officials meet in Beijing after threat to Putin

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko in Beijing on Sunday, a day after Moscow defused the biggest threat to President Vladimir Putin’s rule on his country.

Qin and Rudenko exchanged views on international and regional issues of common interest, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement, without offering more details.

China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu also met Rudenko on Sunday, vowing to defend the two countries’ common interests under the “complex and grim” international environment. Mutual political trust between China and Russia has been growing under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin, China’s foreign ministry cited Ma as saying in another statement.

In a TV broadcast to the nation on Saturday, Putin accused Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin of “treason” in a drama that saw the mercenary leader take convoys of his fighters to within hours of the capital Moscow. As part of a deal to end the uprising, the Russian president guaranteed that Prigozhin would be allowed to leave for Belarus and authorities would drop criminal mutiny charges against him and his fighters, according to the Kremlin.

“The Chinese side expressed support for the efforts of the Russian leadership to stabilize the situation in the country in connection with the events of June 24 and reaffirmed its interest in strengthening the cohesion and further prosperity of Russia,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website.

The ministry said Rudenko was on a working trip and the consultations were planned.

The weekend drama in Russia was covered by Chinese state media, with People’s Daily and CCTV both running stories. Global Times published an article by former editor-in-chief Hu Xijin analyzing what scenarios the uprising could lead to, including regime change. Xi has a tight relationship with Putin and visited him in Moscow in March.

The subject was also a hot topic on social media, with users sharing screenshots of Twitter discussions. Some compared Prigozhin’s moves to the An Lushan Rebellion which began in 755 AD, when a disgruntled general and favorite of the emperor used his troops to capture the eastern capital and proclaim himself emperor. While the rebellion ultimately failed, it led to a weakening of the Tang Dynasty.

In a potential dig at Russia, a Weibo account operated by a part of the People’s Liberation Army published a post by China National Radio about how Mao Zedong revamped the PLA in 1927 – an event that ensured the party retained absolute leadership over the army.

With assistance from Jing Li.