China evacuates

China has begun evacuating its citizens from Japan, as fears over a nuclear crisis grow following the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami on Friday, media here reported Wednesday morning.

The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported that China had become the “first to evacuate its citizens,” from Japan's disaster-stricken areas – planning to move out more than 30,000 Chinese citizens in all. The China Daily newspaper said Chinese government teams were preparing to fly Chinese nationals out of several disaster-torn cities through two major airports. Separately, the Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday that 261 Chinese people were missing in Japan.