Verbatim

"Independence is not the choice of Taiwanese people."
JAMES SOONG, leader of Taiwan's opposition People First Party, at the beginning of his nine-day visit to mainland China intended to build a "bridge of trust" between the two governments

"The lack of deliberate action doesn't rule out blame attributable to negligence, imprudence or even simple incompetence."
SILVIO BERLUSCONI, Italian Prime Minister, in response to a U.S. military investigation exonerating American soldiers in the March shooting death of Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari in Iraq

"We can't have the foreign policy of this country dictated by terrorists."
JOHN HOWARD, Australian Prime Minister, after Iraqi militants demanded a pullout of Australian troops in exchange for the release of engineer Douglas Wood

"I would characterize U.S. nuclear weapons policy as immoral, illegal, militarily unnecessary, and dreadfully dangerous. Far from reducing these risks, the Bush Administration has signaled that it is committed to keeping the U.S. nuclear arsenal as a mainstay of its military power."
ROBERT MCNAMARA, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, on the risk of nuclear catastrophe, as the United Nations met last week to discuss its nonproliferation treaty

"We would like to hear Putin say sorry."
EHTEL HALLISTE, spokeswoman for Estonia's Foreign Ministry, demanding an apology for Russia's 44-year occupation of the Baltic state following the end of World War II. Estonia, along with Lithuania, declined to attend this week's events in Moscow commemorating the 60th anniversary of Hitler's defeat

"He has a long way to come before being a Thatcherite."
MARGARET THATCHER, British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, on Labour leader Tony Blair's historic re-election to a third term. Blair needs to remain Prime Minister until November 2008 to surpass Thatcher's record of 11 years and 209 days in office

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