"Peacekeeping operations and the political process should be pushed forward in balance so as to resume political negotiations, and a ceasefire should be achieved, and the humanitarian situation and security should be improved in Darfur."

Chinese President Hu Jintao, when meeting with Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha in Beijing on June 11

"Why do I, a Western-educated Chinese, defend a country in which I don't live, and whose values are quite different from the ones I was raised with? To me, it is a question of simple mathematics. Twenty years ago, my parents could barely afford to buy me a $1 toy horse for my first Christmas present in London. Today, Chinese tourists flock to Louis Vuitton on the Champs Elysées."

Jiajia Liu, a communications professional working for the WPP Group in London, in her article entitled "True Pride" that was published in the June 9 issue of Time magazine

"The West must understand that China's rise in technology, science and business cannot be prevented, and the further advancement of China should be accepted at least as a fact of life."

Former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, speaking at the German Council on Foreign Relations, a Berlin-based think tank, on June 12

"I can't see a situation where we can put this matter again, to be quite honest with you, because the risk to Europe and indeed to Ireland...is to cause even more damage."

Irish Integration Minister Conor Lenihan, talking to state broadcaster RTE after his countrymen rejected the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum on June 12

"The longer-term economic reform story that made Viet Nam such an attractive destination for foreign direct investment in recent years remains a compelling one."

Benedict Bingham, the International Monetary Fund's country chief for Viet Nam, expressing his confidence in Vietnamese economy that is struggling against worsening inflation and a plummeting stock market