THE civil air defense authority in Northeast China’s Jilin Province suggests that a newspaper advisory on nuclear awareness is an ordinary educational article which should not be over-interpreted.

On Dec. 6, State-run newspaper Jilin Daily published a full-page article titled “Knowledge about and protection from nuclear weapons,” drawing widespread concern.

The provincial civil air defense office said it is its duty to spread disaster prevention and reduction knowledge, including that of protection from nuclear and chemical attacks, to the public.

The article in the Jilin Daily is part of the office’s routine work of popularizing national defense knowledge, and there is no need to read too much into it, the office said.

Officials with the newspaper told Xinhua it was an “ordinary” and “routine” article published by the Jilin civil air defense office to increase knowledge about national defense.

The advisory is one of a series of articles on national defense the office has published in the newspaper since the beginning of this year, the newspaper said.  (Xinhua)