To be fair, by the classical definition of left and right (equality vs hierarchy), tankies are right wingers. Authoritarianism is very much a rightist ideology. In fact, i would even argue that things like the "Cultural Revolution" in China were fascist because they demanded absolute loyalty to the state and its ideology on threat of violence. They just hate the other right wingers a lot because the nations they cheer for have been enemies of what I will loosely call "The West", so they didn't absorb the beliefs that commonly define western right wingers in the modern age.