The origin of AQ cables means nothing. Termination etc.. are the most important things to keep in mind. That's for most cables. I've run into a pair of counterfit only once. That was in a dealer showroom where he was showing folks the difference between a full set of balanced interconnect and speaker cables he bought online as eh had a feeling they were fake.
He was mostly curious as to how they sounded and boy did he find out within seconds. The fakes were actually bad. They looked very very close to the AQ's, but weren't. That said, most sold used are fine. I have purchased all of mine from dealers over the years. I often keep my original purchase slip just in case, so I know where I got them. I also keep the original boxes (although my Horizon/WEL came from someone who used to be a higher up at AQ and he didn't have the packaging, lol). I know they aren't fake though, lol (they are the best interconnects I've ever heard.