UBUD, Bali -- China's leaders in Beijing are eager to heap blame on other countries for their past misdeeds and real or imagined affronts to the dignity of the Chinese people. But the ruling Communist Party should be cautious about casting stones at others while occupying its own glass house. China has a history not only of inequalities of income and wealth but also of great disparities in authoritarian rule by despotic monarchs, warlords and autocrats.
Political scientists may argue over the political legitimacy of the Communist leadership's hold on power and its "dictatorship of the proletariat" that was supposed to bring greater economic equality. But economists can offer clear proof that "market socialism" is leading to wider disparities in income in China. Although modernization and the opening up of the Chinese economy have improved income levels for China's citizens, the gap in income between some industries and regions has widened.
Using the Gini Coefficient to measure individual income whereby "0" indicates perfect equality of income distribution while "1" indicates perfect inequality, the number for China rose from 0.424 in 1996 to 0.458 in 2000.