“我的国家不是食人族！”

2月前

美国总统拜登不久前讲话时暗示他的舅舅二战时被新几内亚食人族吃掉，引起舆论争议。

据路透社4月22日报道，巴布亚新几内亚总理马拉佩回应了拜登的言论，表示巴布亚新几内亚不应该被贴上“食人族”的标签，他同时敦促美国清除散落在太平洋地区的二战遗留物。

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape says his nation does not deserve to be labelled cannibals, and urged the US to clear up the remnants of World War Two littered across the Pacific, after remarks by President Joe Biden last week about his missing serviceman uncle.

报道称，马拉佩办公室当地时间21日在发表的一份声明中表示，拜登“似乎暗示他舅舅所驾驶的飞机，于二战期间在巴布亚新几内亚上空被击落，随后被食人族吃掉”。

Biden had "appeared to imply his uncle was eaten by cannibals after his plane was shot down over PNG during WWII", Marape's office said in a statement late on Sunday.

声明称，“拜登总统的言论可能是口误；然而，我们国家不应该被贴上这样的标签”。

"President Biden's remarks may have been a slip of the tongue; however, my country does not deserve to be labelled as such," Marape said.

巴布亚新几内亚总理马拉佩

路透社报道称，历史学家表示，巴布亚新几内亚对美国在二战期间的太平洋行动至关重要，然而战争带来的影响，对太平洋地区的民众而言，仍然是一个敏感的话题。

马拉佩在声明中表示，他的国家“不必要地陷入了一场不是由他们引起的冲突中”（needlessly dragged into a conflict that was not their doing）。

报道还援引马拉佩的说法称，在巴布亚新几内亚和所罗门群岛仍然散落着战时的人类遗骸、飞机残骸、船只残骸以及遗留的炸弹等，这些炸弹如今仍在造成人员伤亡。

Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands remain littered with wartime human remains, plane wrecks, ship wrecks and tunnels, as well as leftover bombs that were still killing people, he said.

“我敦促白宫调查清理这些二战遗迹，以便像安布罗斯·芬尼根（指拜登的舅舅）这样的军人的失踪真相能够得到澄清”，马拉佩在声明中说。

In his statement, Marape urged the White House "to look into cleaning up these remains of WWII so the truth about missing servicemen like Ambrose Finnegan can be put to rest."

《纽约邮报》报道称，有人认为拜登的说法很幽默，但巴布亚新几内亚的一些居民表示，他们不欣赏拜登此番言论。英国《卫报》也表示，拜登言论令当地居民“困惑（bemuse）”。