Somehow China gets more ‘soft power’ bang for aid buck than U.S.

Washington POst columnist Michael Gerson - reporting from Malawi - sees little but Chinese construction across the skyline of Lilongwe, the Malawian capital.  He muses that China is amassing far more 'soft power' than the U.S.

China’s African investments: Who benefits?  http://www.washingtonpost.com/2011/03/28/AF8G7mqB_story.html 

By one estimate, China’s international aid spending was about $3.1 billion in 2009, while U.S. aid was $28.8 billion. China’s “aid” centers on turnkey construction projects like presidential palaces and sports stadiums all built with Chinese labor. This apparently is more appreciated in the Third World than America’s more judicious aid spending. That may be the reason Congress wants to cut the aid budget. “As America competes with China for global influence, US foreign aid programs face budget ax,” (Associated Press) March 25, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/2011/03/25/AFLKU1TB.html; “Africans welcome China’s growing economic power” (Reuters) March 29, at http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2011/03/29/2003499407