Almost quarter-pinched K\"ahler metrics and Chern numbers

We prove that compact K\"ahler manifolds whose sectional curvatures are close to 1/4-pinched have ratios of Chern numbers close to the corresponding ratios of a complex hyperbolic space form. We deduce that the Mostow-Siu surfaces (and their three-dimensional analogues constructed by the first author) do not admit K\"ahler metrics with pinching close to 1/4.