China has evacuated more than 150 000 people living below a swollen lake formed by this month’s devastating earthquake amid fears it could burst and trigger massive flooding, state media said on Wednesday. Tokyo’s Jiji news agency said China had called on Japan to send its military to help with relief operations.
China is too far down the road toward a market economy to turn back from reforms now, even if United States financial market turmoil is causing it some qualms, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Thursday. Paulson told reporters the biggest threat to continued reforms came from firms in China that want to be protected against competition.