“America Against America”, a book authored during an academic visit to the U.S. in 1988 by the CCP's top theoretician and No: 5 top leader, Wang Huning predicted that America’s emphasis on “individualism, hedonism and democracy” would eventually cause rifts that sapped its competitive drive. It said countries like Japan -- built on “collectivism, selflessness and authoritarianism” -- had the upper hand and forecast the U.S.’s decline due to domestic conflicts. Demand for the book has surged in China and copies are selling for more than 16,600 yuan ($2,500) or more than 3,000 times its original asking price in 1991. Wang Wen, Executive Dean of Renmin University’s Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, commented “The interest in the book is the result of a renewed desire to understand a U.S. that is in the midst of a civil cold war”. “China’s doubts about the U.S. will certainly increase in light of recent events.” Wang Wen added that he doesn’t think the U.S. is headed for a collapse in the near term, but in a commentary published about the sudden interest in “America Against America,” he argued the Capitol Hill incident showed many in China that the U.S. was badly in need of reform. He said “Most Chinese now have a composite perception of the United States, believing both that it will remain the strongest country for a considerable period of time and that it is no longer the respectable America it once was”. Meanwhile, Ren Yi, the grandson of a former top Communist Party official said on his popular nationalist WeChat account 'Chairman Rabbit': “If Trump wins in 2024, he’ll spare no efforts to crack down on Chinese companies. Therefore, in the next four years, Chinese companies listed in the U.S. should consider listing in Hong Kong or returning to the mainland.”