Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape has accused US President Joe Biden of disparaging the South Pacific island nation by implying that his uncle was eaten by “cannibals” there during the Second World War.
The president spoke at a Pennsylvania war memorial last week about his Army Air Corps aviator uncle Ambrose Finnegan, who was shot down over Papua New Guinea. “They never found the body because there used to be – there were a lot of cannibals for real in that part of New Guinea,” Mr Biden said, referring to the eastern mainland.
Mr Biden’s comments offended the key strategic ally as China moves to increase its influence in the region. Mr Marape said on Sunday that Mr Biden “appeared to imply his uncle was eaten by cannibals”.
“President Biden’s remarks may have been a slip of the tongue; however, my country does not deserve to be labelled as such,” Mr Marape said in a statement provided to AP on Monday.
“World War II was not the doing of my people; however, they were needlessly dragged into a conflict that was not their doing,” Mr Marape added.
The rift comes as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese began a visit on Monday to Papua New Guinea, Australia’s nearest neighbor. Mr Albanese and Mr Marape will commemorate strong defense ties between the two countries by walking part of a pivotal battleground known as the Kokoda Track later this week.
“I’m very confident that PNG has no stronger partner than Australia and our defense and security ties have never been stronger,” Mr Albanese told reporters before departing Australia.
The US Embassy in Port Moresby did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. Mr Marape’s statement was released on the same day he met China’s foreign minister Wang Yi in Port Moresby to discuss building closer relations between the two nations.
Mr Marape also called on the US to find its war dead in Papua New Guinea’s jungles and to clean up the wreckage of war. “The remains of WWII lie scattered all over PNG, including the plane that carried President Biden’s uncle,” Mr Marape said.
“Perhaps, given President Biden’s comments and the strong reaction from PNG and other parts of the world, it is time for the USA to find as many remains of World War II in PNG as possible, including those of servicemen who lost their lives, like Ambrose Finnegan,” he said.
“The theatres of war in PNG and Solomon Islands are many, and littered with the remains of WWII including human remains, plane wrecks, shipwrecks, tunnels and bombs. Our people daily live with the fear of being killed by detonated bombs of WWII,” Mr Marape added.
