Quote from heech:
I'm Chinese, and perhaps predictably, very sympathetic of his point of view.
Want to maintain your standard of living? Rather than complaining and hoping to distribute what's left of a small and diminishing pie, work twice as hard. Want to have money after retirement? Work harder now and save more.
The average Chinese continues to study harder as kids, and work harder as adults. All else being equal (ie capital becoming equally available and fair global markets), why should the average Zhang make less than the average Joe? There can't be any justification, and as such the current trend is both reasonable and perfectly irresistible.