[worstspotgain]

Sure, but it's a bit of an unfair comparison in that China is coming to the (trans-regional) scene late, so they're kinda free riding on the dirty work that came before. Plus their support of Russia is bad enough to offset whatever good they might be doing. Not to mention North Korea.

Either way, more "infrastructure diplomacy" is not far from what I'm advocating for. A nudge here, a free trade agreement there, and all of Central America could look like Mexico within a decade.