There is destitution, hunger and homelessness, which it has valiantly tried to address over the years. It sought aid from friends in the West but all it got was crumbs, derision and denunciation. When the Western media finds it necessary to show life in India, all they can find are clips of hunger, poverty and starvation. Consequently, the image of India in the minds of an average citizen is one of a country in perpetual distress. On the other hand China, a country that has brazenly flouted all the principles that the West values, has never been a democracy and has never ensured human rights, justice or fair play, is held in high esteem in the West.
China is a closed society with harsh regulations and censorship.
What the people outside can see of Chinese life is what the government wants them to see. There is no respect for human rights, freedom or justice. When China developed the nuclear weapon and tested it, the West made a feeble protest and did not impose economic sanctions. China ignored almost with contempt Western objections and even sold nuclear technology to countries considered inimical to the United States. In spite of Chinese intransigence it is a member of the international nuclear club, has an important position in the United Nations Security Council and wields with four other nations the power of veto.