The rhetorical jousting between Beijing and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) intensified over the weekend, with China’s state press calling Pelosi the most detested figure in China for her outspoken views on the recent riots in Tibet.

If an opinion poll were to be carried out on the Internet in China to choose the most disgusting figure, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would probably be on top of the list, as she confused right with wrong on the issue of Tibet, held double standards to interfere in China’s internal affairs, hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and impaired China-U.S. relations.

The upheaval has been an untimely embarrassment for China, which has tried to gloss over a dismal human rights record as it prepares to host this year’s summer Olympics. Pelosi (who opposed allowing China to host the Games from the start) has done her best to impede those efforts, meeting last month with the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, and more recently sponsoring a House resolution condemning China’s reaction to the riots. The House resolution passed last week 413 to 1 (former GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul was the only opposition). A similar bill passed the Senate on the same day by unanimous consent.

Pelosi has also called on President George W. Bush to boycott the enormously popular Games.

Not to be outdone, Beijing responded Sunday by comparing the Tibetan violence to California’s Rodney King riots of 1992 — and charging Pelosi with hypocrisy for her role in that episode.

Pelosi, a California Democrat, was elected to the House of Representatives in 1987. Four years after the election, massive ethnic clashes broke out in Los Angeles and some other cities in California. At that time, the Federal and state governments moved in 10,000 security forces from the National Guard, the army and the navy to restore order. Thousands of people were arrested. However, she turned a blind eye to the violence in a state where she came from, without moving any motion on the Los Angeles riots. Where was her “moral authority”?

The heated words lend some indication of how much is at stake as Beijing’s leaders attempt to shed their tyrannical image. But someone might inform them that the quicker way would be simply not to act like tyrants. Opening Tibet to tourists during the torch relay would be a start. Allowing media to film in Tiananmen Square during the Games would be another suggestion. Not jailing human rights activists would be a step as well.

Meanwhile, the Pelosi push is gaining momentum. Last week, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced he’ll be skipping the opening ceremonies. How many others join him has yet to be seen.