The United States recently attacked China for "currency manipulation", which it said had caused the huge US trade deficit, while the latter defended its stance, saying the currency issue is not the major one determining the country's trade balance.

China's Xinhua News Agency recently upped the ante by charging that Washington itself is a long-time currency manipulator.

As the world's No 1 economic powerhouse, the US has long been paranoid about other nations "manipulating" their currencies to the advantage of their trade. In the 1980s, as is known to all, Washington forced Japan to revalue the yen in the name of redressing manipulation, which, however, led to anything but a narrowing of the US trade deficit.