China’s latest target of 600,000 new 5G base stations in 2021 will still leave the rest of the world in its slipstream but is well down on an earlier stated ambition. The latest goal has just been stated by Chinese state news service Xinhua, quoting Xiao Yaqing, minister of industry and information technology, but like all such pronouncements from supposedly official sources should be treated with caution. The same should be said for claims of 5G subscriber numbers, which tend to be overstated partly to offset accusations that the country’s 5G roll out is widening the digital divide, at least for now. In China as in most countries, the reality is that 5G roll out is being driven by the drive…