Kids say the darndest things. And sometimes they’re enough to cause an international TV incident. ABC has issued a formal apology after a boy suggested during a Jimmy Kimmel Live skit that the way to retire the U.S.’ debt to a particular country was to “kill all the people in China.” That didn’t sit well with the 80-20 Inititave, a web-based group that promotes equal opportunity for Asian Americans. In a letter to the organization, ABC apologized and said the skit will be cut from future airings of the show on all platforms. “We would never purposefully broadcast anything to upset the Chinese community, Asian community, anyone of Chinese descent or any community at large,” ABC said. The 6-year-old’s unscripted comment came during an October 16 sketch called “Kids Table” in which youngsters opine on big news topics of the day. After Kimmel told the pint-sized panel that Uncle Sam owes China $1.3 trillion, he asked, “How should we pay them back?” One precocious lad replied with a grin, “Kill all the people in China.” Ugh. Here’s the video. The network’s full statement is after the jump:

“We offer our sincere apology,” ABC said. “We would never purposefully broadcast anything to upset the Chinese community, Asian community, anyone of Chinese descent or any community at large. Our objective is to entertain. We took swift action to minimize the distribution of the skit by removing it from all public platforms available to us and editing it out of any future airings of the show. We hope our actions and our apology effectively address your concerns. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.”