AS FAR as bilateral relations are concerned, neither Beijing nor Washington seems willing or able to liberate themselves from the prison of history.
Once again we see the East Wind up against the West Wind; the Great Helmsman pitted against Uncle Sam; and oriental despotism with Chinese characteristics versus Yankee neo-imperialism.
While it is not exactly sure who cast the first stone, Sino-US ties have, rather unpeacefully, evolved from mudslinging to rock throwing.
Quoting the late Chairman, the People's Daily commentator on Monday accused Washington of ''having lifted a boulder, only to have it dropped on its own feet''.
Chinese politicians have also fingered American hegemonism, power politics and allied ''world-cop'' antics.
The revival of the Maoist, apocalyptic lingo of the Cold War is understandable. The two major post-Cold War titans seem locked in a struggle every bit as intense as the big-power confrontation of the 50s and 60s.
