Pic:thetimes.co.uk These days China-US relations are generally better - South China Sea disputes notwithstanding - than they were in the early 1970's. Then Mao's influence tended to negate friendships with the capitalist superpower, while Nixon's reign in the US was still cowering under the pressure from the omnipotent anti-Red lobby, led by Senator Joe McCarthy. That relations are relatively benign between the world's two undisputed super-powers has various forces to thank, trade and geo-politics in particular. But, what occurred in 1971 during a table tennis tournament in Japan was generally considered the first sign of a thaw between the two behemoths. And, it had little to do with political wrangling and more to do with two mutually respectful athletes knocking down the largely artificial barriers that had been placed between them. It is generally considered that Glenn Cowan, a champion US table tennis player, had missed his team bus after a late trainin...