‘Moment of ambiguity’: Papua New Guinea PM dismisses Biden’s cannibalism comments

Papua New Guinea is trying to move away from outdated tropes that portray it as a savage country rife with cannibalism.

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea:

Papua New Guinea’s leader has dismissed Joe Biden’s unlikely claim that his uncle was eaten by cannibals, calling it “careless” remarks that do not reflect the US president’s feelings about the country.

“Sometimes you have loose moments,” James Marape said in an interview after Biden’s controversial remarks, adding that the relationship was stronger than “one blurry moment.”

Biden said last week that his uncle Ambrose Finnegan was shot down over the Pacific nation during World War II and suggested his body was never found because there were “a lot of cannibals” in the area.

U.S. defense records show that Finnegan’s courier flight was “forced to make an emergency landing in the sea not far from the coast of the island for unknown reasons.”

“I have met him four times until today and each time he has expressed warm greetings to Papua New Guinea,” Marape said.

“At no time in those moments did he say Papua New Guinea was a cannibal,” he added.

For decades, Papua New Guinea has tried to move away from outdated tropes that portray it as a savage country rife with savagery and cannibalism.

“There are many, many values ​​in our relationship… that are deeper than a sentence, a word, a punchline,” Marape said.

He urged Biden and the White House to instead focus on cleaning up the unexploded ordnance still scattered across Papua New Guinea.

In 2014, Australian and US troops destroyed 16 tonnes of wartime munitions during a bomb disposal operation on Bougainville.

The U.S. government’s travel advisory for Papua New Guinea lists unexploded ordnance as one of the major dangers in remote areas.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)