Cynicism explains a flawed new EU-China commercial pact

BUOYED BY A growing economy, cheered by a domestic public united by the fight against covid-19, and eager to start shipping vaccines to friends around the world, China’s rulers feel history turning their way. A recurring phrase in their speeches hails “changes unseen in a hundred years”. Bluntly, Communist Party chiefs feel China is rising and democratic countries—battered by recession and racked by partisan disputes—are falling behind.

As 2021 dawned, the European Union offered China a further boost by agreeing to a commercial pact that will bind some powerful European companies still more tightly to China. The deal brushes aside concerns about dependence on Chinese markets. It tackles allegations of forced labour in supply chains by accepting promises that China will make “continued and sustained efforts” to ratify international conventions on workers’ rights.