Washington has been puzzled by a question that will help define how successful America will be this century how to deal with China? Under Nixon, China was seen as a way of curtailing the Soviet Union.
Under Carter and Reagan it was largely ignored. When the current president's father was in the White House, China enjoyed its first real period of conditional warmth with Washington.
Bush senior had close ties with the Beijing leadership. Under Clinton, those ties blossomed and China was referred to as a strategic partner.
All that changed with the political firm of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld. China was viewed if not as an enemy then certainly as an opponent and was reclassified as a strategic rival.
On occasion, Washington went out of its way to embarrass China. When Bush became president in 2000, he was scheduled to meet Chinese president Jiang Zemin.
Bush insisted that he should instead meet the Japanese prime minister, Yoshiro Mori, before Jiang.
Washington then cancelled Jiang's visit and rushed in Mori who was about to be replaced as Japanese prime minister due to opinion poll ratings hovering at about 7.5 per cent.
Snubs like these are not easily forgotten in Beijing's corridors of power.
Nor was the silly remark by Rumsfeld that if the European Union lifted its arms embargo of China then those weapons would end up killing American troops.
China can be America's greatest opportunity or its greatest challenge.
Bush's stern words about lack of democracy and religious freedom mean little, they certainly won't stop him trying to sell Boeing aircraft.
For the US, the yuan may be over-valued but it is still valued by American commerce.
China, though, is much more than the world's next big thing. Its success and prosperity will provide a good foundation for Asia and for America. It is a strategic opportunity.
