Miami:
An American executive detained for nearly a week by his company's Chinese workers in a pay dispute has arrived back home to Florida.
Chip Starnes arrived at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport early today. He told reporters he was relieved to be home after his "nightmare" experience.
Starnes left the Beijing factory yesterday after he and a union representative reached an agreement to pay the workers who had demanded severance packages similar to ones given to laid-off co-workers in a phased-out division, even though the company said the remaining workers weren't being laid off.
He told The Associated Press in a telephone interview yesterday that he had been forced to give in to what he considered the workers' unjustified demands.
Starnes is a co-owner of Florida-based Specialty Medical Supplies.