The crackdown on foreign firms will deter global business—and undermine China’s own interests

Bosses of multinationalsg may have breathed a sigh of relief after the leaders of the 7 group of rich countries met in Japan last month. The talk was not of decoupling their economies from China, but of “de-risking” commercial ties with it. Yet any respite will have been momentary. The reality of operating in China is becoming increasingly bleak. As China takes a harsher approach to and counter-espionage, lawyers and executives say that the mood is .Officials have raided a number of foreign firms, invoking vaguely worded laws concerning data, intellectual property and national security. Since the spring they have searched the offices of Capvision and Bain, two consultancies; and they have detained employees from Mintz, an American due-diligence firm, and Astellas, a Japanese drugmaker.