"Irresponsible words and acts by the Japanese politicians will not only undermine their credibility, but also harm Japan's international image."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin, commenting on Tokyo metropolitan government's calls for fund-raising to buy some of the islets adjacent to the Diaoyu Islands in Beijing on May 31

"We welcome the Philippine Government to send their ambassador to Beijing as soon as possible, and we believe it will help strengthen communication between both sides through diplomatic channels."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin, welcoming newly appointed Philippine Ambassador to China, Sonia C. Brady, to take office in a regular press briefing in Beijing on May 28

"I appeal to him (Assad) to take bold steps now—not tomorrow, now—to create momentum for the implementation of the plan."

Kofi Annan, the UN special envoy to Syria, stressing the necessity of implementing his six-point peace plan in order to stem the violence after the mass killing in the Syrian town of Houla, at a press conference after meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Syria, on May 29

"Production may remain stopped for three to four months, and I learned this may cause a further 1-percent drop of gross domestic product."

Giorgio Squinzi, head of Italy's leading industrial association Confindustria, saying that the 5.8-magnitude earthquake which hit central-northern Italy on May 29 would aggravate the current economic crisis, in an interview with a local media in Milan on May 30