"The Olympics may be composed of nations, but its spirit transcends nationalism."

An article titled "Let China's Games Begin" in the August 8 issue of Time magazine, saying that the fact that more than 200 countries and regions participated in the Beijing Olympics, including three first-timers, demonstrates the Olympic spirit

"I think the Chinese are being great hosts. The venues are fantastic. And our team is fired up-and so am I. I'm excited to be here. It's such a thrill to watch our men and women compete."

U.S. President George W. Bush, before winding up his Olympics-themed Beijing trip on August 11

"There have been some questions about whether (the city's) monitoring data can be relied on. Let me tell you that the 27 monitoring stations in Beijing are calibrated. They are not machines people can manipulate, at least in terms of the data that are available to you and to us."

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environmental Program, who said on August 9 that Beijing had invested more efforts and resources than previous host cities and its measures had proved effective

"What the Russians just did is, for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union, they have taken a decisive military action and imposed a military reality. They've done it unilaterally, and all of the countries that have been looking to the West to intimidate the Russians are now forced into a position to consider what just happened."

George Friedman, Chief Executive of Stratfor, a geopolitical analysis and intelligence company, commenting on the Russia-Georgia mini-war in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia, which began on August 8

"Robert Zoellick (former U.S. Trade Representative) has spoken a lot about China as a responsible stakeholder. China, I think, at the posture of Geneva at the Doha talks recently, gave evidence of that."

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, praising China's role in reviving the World Trade Organization-sponsored global trade talks that collapsed due to differences between developed and developing economies on some agricultural issues