The insurrection of the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has been closely watched by neighboring China. The head of Chinese diplomacy received the Russian deputy foreign minister on Sunday, recalling that China had supported Moscow during Saturday’s mutiny in Russia.
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With our correspondent in Beijing, Stéphane Lagarde
The columns of the Huanqiu Shibao daily, in particular, were filled with relief: “The armed rebellion in Prigozhin came to an end rapidly in less than 24 hours,” the People’s Daily affiliate noted, repeating the remarks of the spokesman for the Ministry of Chinese Foreign Affairs the day before. “This is Russia’s internal affairs,” the Chinese diplomatic spokesman said on Sunday. “As a friendly neighbor and comprehensive strategic cooperation partner in the new era, China is helping Russia maintain national stability and achieve development and prosperity. “.
Relief and discretion
What state media describe as the “June 24 incident” does not fit the official narrative that Vladimir Putin enjoys the full support of the Russian people in his war against Ukraine. Hence the silence of most of the Chinese media again this Monday morning about this lightning mutiny by Wagner’s mercenaries.
This is the scenario that Chinese authorities have feared since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine on Saturday: that the war in Ukraine would end up undermining the stability of the Russian regime. The fear of a “domino effect” is also expressed on social networks, which in China are closely monitored. Some commentators lament that if Putin is weakened, “there will be no one else to share the burden of Western pressure.”
Others, particularly the People’s Liberation Army social account, reject out of hand the possibility of a Russian-style scenario in China, recalling that in 1927, Mao secured absolute control of the army by the Chinese Communist Party. Control of the party was further strengthened by Xi Jinping after he became general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and chairman of the Central Military Commission when the People’s Army’s command structure was restructured in 2015.
