Just ask the Kurds for instance.
Or the Chechens, Tartars or Ughurs.
China and Russia are always fiercely defensive of the rights of countries to do as they wish within their own borders, which they regard as purely internal affairs and brook no interference from other nations.
The problem comes when they perceive some historic right to a “sphere of influence “ from the USSR and the authority to act in the same way within their neighbours territory.