I'm glad that you admit that it is not just Confucian or Chinese society that has issues with inequality. There are obvious examples like the Hindu caste system that still dominates Indian society that takes such inequality to an even greater degree. What you describe about US society is what I would regard as 'the American Dream'. The belief that no matter who you are you can achieve anything. It's a nice idea but in practice it isn't really true is it? I'm reminded of a scene from the Simpsons when a young Homer is at home with his parents watching President Kennedy on TV.

Homer: Look at me, er, uh, Mom: I am, er, uh, President Kennedy.
Mrs. Simpson: Oh, Abe: maybe our Homer could grow up to be President some day.
Abe: You, President? This is the greatest country in the world. We've got a whole system set up to prevent people like you from ever becoming president. Quit your daydreaming, melonhead!

Only a cartoon I know but it makes a reasonable point.

Any ideology or religion that is over 2000 years old is likely to be in need of adaptation. What may have seemed like sound advice for organizing a society back then may not hold true today. I'm sure the Republican Party with it's strong links to the Christian right in the US would agree with this sentiment given the recent comments about rape, incest and abortion which didn't seem to fit with most Americans current view of society and have cost them seats in the senate and possibly the presidency itself. Of course, what seems to be replacing traditional ideologies such as confucianism in china is the modern western concept of capitalism. A system based on the ideas of the division of labour, market forces, etc. that accept society, the economy and individual as being essentially unequal.

It's easy to take the moral high ground as a Westerner and talk about universalism, democracy, law and human rights. We do come from freer, wealthier and at the moment more enlightened societies. However, it wasn't that long ago that our societies were dominated by concepts like slavery and imperialism. As our economies developed so did our societies and ways of thinking and we hope that they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. China has made rapid economic progress but has not been able until now to make certain changes in it's society to improve some of the areas you mentioned. I think it's only natural that such changes take longer to instigate than say for example an economic reform as they require a change in the way people think and act. I do however, believe that the Chinese are capable of making such changes in the future. To think otherwise is in essence to believe in inequality ie. that somehow the Chinese are less able to grasp concepts such as basic human rights.