"It is the responsibility of the government to make the 'cake of social wealth' big, and it is the conscience of the government to properly divide the 'cake'."

Wen Jiabao, Chinese Premier, during an online chat with Internet users

"It's quite possible that a renminbi adjustment on a large scale would either lead to lower wages and faster productivity growth in China or higher wages and lower productivity growth in the West."

Stephen King, chief economist at the HSBC bank, criticizing efforts to blame China's currency policy for trade surplus

"The enthusiasm with which our politicians and pundits manufacture Chinese straw men points more to unease at home than to success inside the Great Wall."

Steven Mufson and John Pomfret, reporters of The Washington Post, in their article "There's a New Red Scare. But Is China Really So Scary?" in the U.S. newspaper

"We face a catastrophe of such unthinkable magnitude."

Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile, after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit the country on February 27, killing hundreds and displacing as many as 2 million people

"The challenge, therefore, is not that there is no progress; the real challenge lies in the fact that progress is uneven across regions and within countries."

Sha Zukang, UN Under Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs, on the uneven progress across the globe for gender equality and women's empowerment, particularly in economic and social policies

"We are doing our very best. Please understand. Please look at this thing in a more objective manner."

Salaman Bashir, Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, rejecting allegations that Pakistan is an "epicenter" for terrorism

"Israel is pushing the Palestinians to carry out more violent actions in order to justify using force against them."

Ali al-Khalili, a West Bank-based political analyst, on the Israeli Government's declaration to include two religious shrines in the West Bank in the list of Jewish heritage sites