China fears that Russia will become a "minor power" under the "crazy" leadership of Vladimir Putin.
China fears for Russia's status under 'crazy' Vladimir Putin
It is said that Beijing is planning to reorient its foreign policy away from Moscow as a result of the nation's loss of economic and political credibility following the disastrous invasion of Ukraine.
Chinese president Xi Jinping and Putin pledged to strengthen relations during a video conference last month, but sources have told the Financial Times that mistrust of the Russian despot is growing in the Chinese Communist Party.
An anonymous Chinese official said: "The invasion decision was made by a very small group of people. China simply shouldn't follow Russia. Putin is crazy."
Beijing claims to have been unaware of Putin's plans to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year and was only expecting a limited military operation.
China was unprepared for the invasion and the failure to get accurate intelligence from the Kremlin led to the demotion of the nation's vice minister of foreign affairs Le Yucheng.
Anonymous Chinese officials say that they believed that Putin's 'special military operation' was doomed to fail and that Russia would emerge from the conflict as a "minor power".