1.
SV WHITE INTO PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM
0.06

2.
SV NEWSMEN.
0.08

3.
SCU WHITE SMOKING.
0.15

4.
SCU REPORTER ASKS QUESTION.
0.18

5.
SCU HE ANSWERS
0.21

6.
SV WHITE SPEAKS TO NEWSMEN.
0.32

7.
SV NEWSMEN
0.34

8.
SV NEWSMEN (PAN.. AND ZOOM IN) WHITE SPEAKS TO THEM.
0.43

9.
CU WHITE SPEAKS TO NEWSMEN.
0.50



Initials AK/V/JH/JM



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: A FORMER UNITED STATES ARMY CORPORAL, WILLIAM CHARLES WHITE, SAID IN HONGKONG ON TUESDAY, SHORTLY AFTER LEAVING THE CHINESE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC, "I AM HOMESICK AND WANT TO GO HOME TO JOIN MY FAMILY AND TO SEE MY MOTHER".

WHITE, WHO HAD SPENT II YEARS IN CHINA, WAS ONE OF 21 AMERICAN PRISONERS WHO REFUSED REPATRIATION AFTER THE END OF THE KOREAN WAR. HE IS BELIEVED TO HAVE SPENT MOST OF HIS TIME IN PEKING. OF THE ORIGINAL 21, 14 AMERICANS HAVE ALREADY LEFT CHINA.

ACCOMPANIED BY HIS CHINESE SCHOOLTEACHER WIFE, HSIEH TING AND TWO CHILDREN, JOHN, WHO IS SIX, AND FOUR-YEAR-OLD ANNE, CORPORAL WHITE SAID HE PLANNED TO GOT TO KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, WHERE HIS MOTHER NOW LIVES.

WHILE IN CHINA, HE STUDIED LAW AND LATER WORKED AT PEKING'S FOREIGN LANGUAGES PRESS. WHITE SAID HE STAYED IN CHINA OUT OF CURIOSITY AND ADDED: "I DID NOT BETRAY MY COUNTRY".

ANSWERING A QUESTION ON THE VIETNAM SITUATION, WHITE SAID THE CHINESE HAVE NO FEAR OF WAR BECAUSE THEY HAVE A STRONG ARMY EQUIPPED WITH THE MOST MODERN CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS.