A survey in China revealed that more than 96 percent of the participants surveyed think that the most obvious reason for inequality in current Chinese society is “caused by power.”
Sina.com reported that People's Forum Magazine conducted the “Survey of Equality” on Sina.com 6,277 people participated in the survey. The survey showed that 72 percent of participants think that the rich-to-poor gap in China is too big. Nearly 50 percent believe that the gap is strategic. The survey also revealed that 68 percent of the participants felt that the income they receive from their work was not commensurate.
The question “what types of societal circumstances increase the awareness of social injustice?” was posed. More than 86 percent of the participants considered the main circumstance to be “corruption of officials,” 72 percent thought that the second circumstance was “the living conditions of the less privileged classes,” and 68 percent believed the condition was “rich peoples’ tendency toward excess.”
For the inequities caused by the circumstances of power in China, former editor of People's Daily, Wu Xuecan, cited examples, “Wen Jiabao’s wife has a jewelry business and his son has an insurance business. Hu Jintao's son was awarded a project of more than 10 billion yuan, without his having to bid for it.”
The report said that many people thought that Chinese society before the period of reform was basically an equitable one. Hu Ping, the editor-in-chief of the Chinese political magazine, Beijing Spring, commented about the result of the survey: “I think that the result of the survey is worthy of attention. First, the survey concluded that most people thought that China’s current main problem is the rich-poor gap, with more than 96 percent of the participants feeling that the contributing causation was about power. I think that these two issues reflect China’s actual situation. Of course, it doesn’t mean that the wealth gap was not large before the reform.
It is a fact that in Mao Zedong’s time, the inequality mainly manifested in politics, but in fact, there was also serious inequalities in economics at that time. First was the inequality between urban and rural areas. The dual systems of the urban and rural areas that are criticized today were actually established in Mao’s time. Moreover, the financial situation of officials and cadres in Mao’s time was much better than that of the common people. They had a variety of privileges. Though overall, the wealth gap at that time was not as serious as today, we should not idealize the condition of Mao’s time by its existence.
The survey listed the top three suggestions for improving society’s inequities. 73 percent of the participants thought that officials’ conduct should be further restricted and regulated, 68 percent thought that the policy of income distribution should be adjusted, and 60 percent believed that the government should increase its support of the working class groups.
Hu expressed his overall view of the survey’s main conclusion: “The worst aspect of China’s wealth gap is its nature. It is caused by power. The first step to solve the problem is to correct the abuse of power and corruption caused by the privatization of power. Therefore, there should be political reform. However, regarding political reform, the survey is vague. It mentions restricting officials’ conduct, but how? What restrictive measures would be used? There are no definitive views.”
Sina.com also reported that more than 97 percent of the participants were optimistic about the future, with regard to China’s social inequality. Hu questioned the reliability of the data. He feels that social inequality in China is getting worse with each successive year, and maintains that it is caused by China’s political system, a “one-party dictatorship.” In conclusion, he remarked, “only if China becomes a democratic country could the unfair conditions possibly be improved upon.”
Read the Original Article in Chinese: http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/8/11/8/n2323455.htm