Nervous? Chinese Media Publishes Guidelines For Surviving A Nuclear War

The growing threat of a nuclear war in Northeast Asia appears to have some in China on edge.

The state-run Jilin Daily, a Chinese media outlet based in a province bordering nuclear North Korea, published “common sense” guidelines Wednesday to help citizens survive nuclear war, Reuters reported. While the full-page article does not mention North Korea specifically, the North is the gravest nuclear threat to the region.

North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test in September, detonating a staged thermonuclear bomb with an explosive yield of several hundred kilotons, and last Tuesday, the North launched the new Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile, demonstrating a theoretical capability to strike anywhere in the continental U.S.

People in Jilin have, in the past, reported feeling tremors when the North tested a nuclear device.


The article explains that there are five destructive aspects of a nuclear explosion: light radiation, blast waves, early-stage nuclear radiation, nuclear electromagnetic pulses, and radioactive pollution. The Jilin Daily encouraged people caught outside when the bomb goes off to dive into a ditch, river, or lake and cover any exposed skin.

For those who can get to shelter, the paper urges people to close their doors and windows and seek cover under beds and tables. The piece also instructed people to shower, clean out their ears, and scrub their clothes clean.

The article was published at the request of Jilin Provincial People’s Air Defense Office to strengthen “national defense education,” The Washington Post reported.

Similar guidelines have been issued in Japan, where air raid and evacuation drills have been conducted more frequently. South Korea has also carried out emergency exercises.

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