for the trade war the uswill suffer more in the long run because it damaged its position and reputation as the central pillar of global trade and commerce said mei xinyu who is with a research group under the ministry of commerce in beijingwang hunings book which was written during an academic visit to the us in 1988 predicted that americas emphasis on individualism hedonism and democracy would eventually cause rifts that sapped its competitive drive countries like japan built on collectivism selflessness and authoritarianism had the upper hand said wang huning whos now one of seven people on the politburos supreme standing committeefailed statethat thesis hasnt stood up so well over the past three decades of the uss two main rivals of that era japan and the soviet union one collapsed and the other saw its economy stagnate that left the us as the worlds undisputed superpower and today it still boasts the worlds most powerful military and biggest economy powered by waves of successive innovationdriven technology boomsbut confidence is growing in china that the balance may be shifting besides the transition chaos the uss struggles against the coronavirus racial justice protests and gun violence subjects featured prominently in chinas staterun media have fed the narrative of american declinethe world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century but time and the situation are in our favor xi told the gathering of local officials monday adding that he saw opportunities in general outweighing challengesstate media was more direct about the source of chinas confidence with a xinhua editorial arguing tuesday that the fall of capitol hill had proved westernstyle democracy no longer works the us has become a failed state in the eyes of its allies xinhua saidbiden questionsbidens approach to china remains unclear the 78yearold former vice president has expressed a desire to rebuild a consensus among us allies before opening big negotiations with beijing he told new york times columnist thomas friedman last month that he wouldnt immediately rescind the phase one deal or repeal trumps tariffs on chinawhile chinese officials might be eager to engage bidens experienced team of beltway operators on trade and other disputes the whiplash of trumps oneterm presidency has diminished hopes for deals that last some of the top contenders for the republican nomination in 2024 including senator marco rubio secretary of state michael pompeo or even trump himself are among washingtons most strident china hawksif trump wins in 2024 hell spare no efforts to crack down on chinese companies read a post by chairman rabbit a popular nationalist wechat account run by ren yi the grandson of a former top communist party official therefore in the next four years chinese companies listed in the us should consider listing in hong kong or returning to the mainlandfor his own part wang wen of the chongyang institute said he doesnt think the us is headed for a collapse in the near term but in a commentary published