In the Race to Dominate 5G, China Sprints Ahead

On either side of the brown river running through this misty mountain village, residents live in wooden huts without window panes. Chickens and cats mingle on the road.

But this southwestern Chinese backwater has seen a glimpse of the future that even major U.S. cities such as Boston and Philadelphia still haven’t experienced. As part of a publicity stunt two years ago, a government-owned wireless carrier briefly flipped on a superfast 5G cellular network to broadcast a song-and-dance performance from members of the Dong ethnic minority.

This is the audacity...