US President Joe Biden’s apparent suggestion his uncle may have been eaten by cannibals during World War II has sparked uproar in Papua New Guinea, casting a shadow on US relations with the Pacific nation and meeting a firm response from its leader.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape says his nation does not deserve to be labelled cannibals, and urged the U.S. 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.

Papua New Guinea “does not deserve” to be stereotyped, its leader said, after Biden suggested his aviator uncle was eaten there during WWII.

President Biden suggested without evidence that his uncle had been eaten by cannibals there after his plane went down off the New Guinea coast during World War II.

Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Justin Tkachenko said Tuesday that relations with the U.S. have hit a “low point” after President Joe Biden claimed his uncle was eaten in the Pacific nation by cannibals during World War II.

Biden had insinuated that his uncle, 2nd Lt. Ambrose J. Finnegan Jr. was eaten by humans in the Oceanic nation after his plane was gunned down on the island, because his body was never found.

Papua New Guinea's leader has dismissed Joe Biden's unlikely suggestion that his uncle was eaten by cannibals there as "loose" talk that does not reflect the US president's feelings for the country.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape criticized Biden's comments last week that linked his island to cannibalism.