相持

locked in a stalemate / to confront one another

each other / one another / mutually / fret on the neck of a pipa 琵琶[pi2 pa5] (a fret on the soundboard is called a 品[pin3])

appearance / portrait / picture / government minister / (physics) phase / (literary) to appraise (esp. by scrutinizing physical features) / to read sb's fortune (by physiognomy, palmistry etc)

to hold / to grasp / to support / to maintain / to persevere / to manage / to run (i.e. administer) / to control

at a stalemate / deadlocked / in unrelenting mutual opposition