Citation? The only data I can find, shows they are on par with disparity between rich and poor. What data are you sourcing that conclusion from?
Social liberties, very difficult to measure. But I am interested to why you think China is far worse? If you mean they have less "Rights" (from the US Bill of Rights)... then that is probably true of most countries. But in terms of Social mobility, I'd intuitively say that china probably compares favourably to the US
Corruption is certainly an issue, China (75th) ranking far worse than the US (25th) on the Corruption Perception Index[1]. But keeping in mind it is a perception index, and doesn't adjust for bias.
I don't think the article is optimistic, I think it's realistic, China is a booming economy with a lot of job opportunities for "Westerners", compared to the US, with it's shrinking (or shrunken) economy...
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_eq...