Experts said China viewed such cooperation as critical because both Beijing and Moscow needed to respond to the rising threats of colour revolutions and their influence in Central Asia and Southeast Asia, where the two neighbours shared common development and strategic interests.

Colour revolutions refer to uprisings in eastern European countries in the early 2000s and have also been applied to movements in Asia and the Middle East. Chinese Communist Party leaders have spoken out against their influence, calling on party members to be vigilant and stay loyal to the party.

“It is very necessary for China and Russia to work together to respond to colour revolutions, especially against Western countries which wanted to overthrow legitimate regimes of our two countries by mobilising opposition forces and through street protests,” Wu said.

The call from Wang came after the US recently announced new sanctions on Russia for the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and the US and European Union deplored the “disproportionate use of force” by the Russian government, which Russia’s foreign ministry then called “gross interference” by the US.

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An expert focused on Russian studies in Beijing who requested anonymity said China and Russia had common needs in opposing Western interference in their internal affairs.

“The two countries need to speak out with one voice against colour revolutions and foreign interference, and at the same time strengthen their experience in handling street protests and governing the country.”

Li Lifan, a senior fellow at the Shanghai Academy Of Social Sciences, said that while colour revolutions had roots in Central Asian countries, they had also extended influence to Southeast Asia.

“The regions where the colour revolutions broke out are generally where the interests of China and Russia are located. Both China and Russia have interests in many countries in Central Asia,” Li said.

“These regions are areas where China and Russia have overlapping interests, including China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Look East policy of Russia,” Li said, referring to China’s infrastructure-focused trade and investment programme.

After US President Joe Biden came into office, he called for American leadership to meet this new moment of advancing authoritarianism, including the growing ambitions of China which would rival the US and the determination of Russia to damage and disrupt democracy in the US.

“The Biden administration regards China and Russia as rivals and enemies, and advances human rights and democracy in his policy. Therefore, he may promote colour revolutions in some Central Asian countries that are not yet democratic, challenge the existing non-democratic systems and promote the change of democratic regimes,” Li added.

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The joint effort to fight against colour revolutions together with countries including Russia was brought to the table by China during a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers in Moscow last year.

Wang Yi suggested at the time that the SCO member countries should “never allow external forces to intervene in the internal affairs of SCO member countries, never allow a colour revolution to succeed, or regional peace and stability to be undermined”.

In 2015, Russia and China agreed at the 11th round of Russian-Chinese consultations on strategic security to redouble efforts to counter the threat of a colour revolution.

Additional reporting by Rachel Zhang