That number doesn’t reflect what America’s states, cities, and counties — not to mention the private sector — will spend over the same 10-year period. Although U.S. accounting regulations don’t obligate firms to disclose details of capital spending, publicly available data on private sector infrastructure spending patterns underscore the scale of their contribution. The Washington, D.C.-based Progressive Policy Institute estimates that capital investment by U.S. broadband providers, including AT&T and Verizon, totaled $52 billion in the first half of fiscal year 2020 alone. But a review of proposed spending in Beijing’s latest annual budget and five-year plan indicate that the...