China , a country the size of a small continent, tends to leverage its heft by negotiating with other states one-on-one rather than through regional blocs. It has put this technique to use with Asean, the Southeast Asian association , using bilateral deals to divide members . Judging by the tone of President Xi Jinping’s visit to Italy and France over the past week, China has adopted the same approach in Europe — this time pitting the Italian government, which is anti-European Union, against the pro-E.U. French government of Emmanuel Macron, among others.

As expected, Italy signed a wide-ranging memorandum of understanding, or M.O.U., with China, becoming the first major Western economy to endorse Beijing’s colossal and controversial “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure initiative. Most contentious, perhaps, was the Italian government’s decision to grant a Chinese state-owned company access to two ports, including one used by the United States Navy that is just 100 kilometers from NATO’s largest air base in the Mediterranean region.

But did Mr. Xi really get out of Italy what he came for?

Since June 2018, when the awkward motley coalition formed by the populist Five Star Movement and the extreme-right, anti-immigration League came to power, the Italian government has been as triumphalist as its politics have been amateurish and confused. The same goes for its recent dealings with Mr. Xi.

Essential terms of the M.O.U. — and of the 29 contracts signed along with it, which range from the frivolous to the reckless — are exceedingly vague. In fact, some commitments are inherently noncommittal.