The burgeoning alliance between China, Russia, Iran and North Korea poses a serious threat to Western values and security, and requires Australia and other democracies to band together against the “community of autocracies”, a top North Atlantic Treaty Organisation official says.

Recent military drills by Chinese troops in Belarus near the Polish border hammered home to Europeans security concerns over Beijing, NATO acting Assistant Secretary General for Innovation, Hybrid and Cyber James Appathurai told The Australian Financial Review.