"Academic differences between economists are in the interest of the public."

Li Yining, Dean Emeritus of Guanghua School of Management, Peking University

"Economists must persist in independent thinking. Under the consensus of pushing forward reform and establishing a market economy based on the rule of law, we should be open to academic debates."

Wu Jinglian, researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council, a think tank of the Chinese Central Government

"The target of ‘halving the population in poverty,' one of the Millennium Development Goals that the UN has drafted for the common development of the world, is met mainly thanks to China."

Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Secretary of Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, who is also a UN Under Secretary General

"I welcomed representatives of the UK Chinese community to No.10 (Downing Street) yesterday (January 14) and was struck by the huge range of contributions Chinese people, and others with Chinese backgrounds, make to our multicultural society."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking to China's Xinhua News Agency on January 15 before his first China visit

"Anyone can now take revenge against a Baathist by filing a false lawsuit."

Abu Ali, a high-ranking official of Saddam Hussein's Baath party, felt skeptical about results of the Justice and Accountability Law recently adopted by Iraq's parliament. The law will allow thousands of middle-ranking Baath party members to apply for reinstatement to their jobs in the civil service and military, provided they were not convicted of crimes.

"Extensive evaluation of the available data has not identified any subtle hazards that might indicate food consumption risks in healthy clones of cattle, swine or goats."

U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in a final risk assessment on food from cloned animals, which was released on January 15

"The international situation created in the wake of September 11, as well as all the other terrorist attacks that have tragically marked our times, have created a pressing need for dialogue between civilizations, religions and cultures."

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, opening the First Alliance of Civilizations Forum in Madrid on January 15