Hong Kong, Oct. 13 -- A quartet of countries - China, Iran, North Korea and Russia - is sometimes referred to as CRINK, and they enjoy distinctive alignment in many areas. Yet suspicion between the four remains deep, which explains why China is being careful to pick a cautious path that prevents it from being treated as an international pariah, yet still allows it to show solidarity with its fellow authoritarian states.

Examining the Iran and Ukraine wars, a report by the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) noted, "These two conflicts have demonstrated both the strengths and the limits of CRINK security ties. The war in Ukraine has shown how four countries can each bring to bear their distinctive strengths to s...