As Russia and North Korea grow closer, China keeps its distance

BEIJING — China shares a "no limits partnership" with Russia and remains a crucial supporter to North Korea. Yet as its two neighbors — isolated by the U.S. and the West — forge closer ties, Beijing appears to be keeping its distance. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin rattled global geopolitics last week by signing a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement that includes a mutual defense pact, bringing the two nuclear-armed states closer than they have been since the Cold War. Putin's rare visit to North Korea, his first in 24 years, comes as he is…