Human rights and rule of law are inseparably connected.

If you want to bring an end to long-standing conflict, you have to be prepared to compromise. If either or both sides insist on getting everything that they want - that is to say 100 percent of their demands to be met, then there can never be a settlement.

To abolish fear correctly is to nurture law and order.

One prisoner of conscience is one too many.

What we are lacking in Burma is an independence effective judiciary, and unless we have all three of the democratic institutions - strong and healthy, we cannot say that our democratic processes (is complete).

Burma is located between China, India, and South East Asia. So it is quite natural that a country wanting diplomatic relations with our country would pay attention to who our regional neighbors are. It is not at all fair to ask a country to build relations with Burma but not take into account the situation in China. There is no way to think that taking the Chinese situation into consideration shows a disregard for Burma.

There is a time to be quiet and a time to talk.