The turbulent events over the past few days have demonstrated just how risky the Chinese president Xi Jinping’s alliance with Moscow was.
Yevgeny Prigozhin and his private army launched a coup on Saturday, but Russian President Vladimir Putin managed to survive. Maybe Putin’s hold on power never really threatened. Nevertheless, the incident offered a picture of a deeply declining Russia where a warlord may march on Moscow virtually unopposed and where political fortunes can be erratic and even volatile, regardless of how it is seen as a sign of Putin’s frailty or his resiliency.
Such is the nation that Xi has based a large portion of his aspirations for foreign policy. Putin appears to have been welcomed by Xi as a vital ally in his efforts to rebuff American global dominance.
