"China's economic exchanges with Iran do not go against the UN Security Council resolutions and should not be affected. China opposes placing domestic law above nternational law and does not favor unilateral sanctions against other countries."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, speaking at a regular press briefing in Beijing on January 4, in response to a question regarding possible U.S. sanctions against Iran

"If this basis does not last in the future, cross-Straits relations could be thrown into uncertainty."

Lai Shin-yuan, head of the "Mainland Affairs Council" under Taiwanese authorities, saying at a press conference in Taipei on January 4 that the "1992 Consensus" is an "important basis" for negotiations between Taiwan and the mainland

"If we implement all the decisions taken at the Brussels summit we will emerge stronger. In 10 years, maybe the euro will be the world's number one currency."

French central bank governor Christain Noyer, in an interview with the weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche in Paris, France, on January 1

"I want to state clearly that there are some people who seek a regional cold war. We are determined to prevent it. A regional sectarian tension would be suicide for the region."

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, during an interview with Turkish semiofficial Anatolia news agency in Ankara on January 4 before his visit to Iran