John Miller, 63, is accused of conspiring with US-based Chinese national Cui Guanghai, 43 after he was arrested in a sting involving undercover FBI agents
A British businessman has been arrested in an alleged Chinese spy plot, and is accused of trying to smuggle sensitive US military technology to Beijing. John Miller, 63, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, was arrested on April 24 while on a business trip to Belgrade, Serbia, as part of a sting involving undercover FBI agents.
Miller is accused of conspiring with US-based Chinese national, Cui Guanghai, 43. If convicted, both men could face up to 40 years in prison. A number of intercepted phone calls showed Miller referred to Chinese leader Xi Jinping as ‘The Boss’, court documents reportedly allege. The FBI said this demonstrated his ‘awareness that he was acting at the direction and control of the [Chinese] government’.
Documents filed at the Eastern District Court of Wisconsin in Milwaukee reportedly allege Miller tried to buy military hardware in the US for the People’s Liberation Army, including missile launchers, air defence radars and Black Hornet ‘microdrone’.
Other equipment he allegedly attempted to obtain included a hand-held device for the secure communication of ‘classified and sensitive national security information’.
The pair are also accused of mounting a surveillance and harassment operation against a Chinese-American artist to stop him from protesting during a visit by Xi to San Francisco in November 2023.
US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said: “The defendants targeted a US resident for exercising his constitutional right to free speech and conspired to traffic sensitive American military technology to the Chinese regime.
“This is a blatant assault on both our national security and our democratic values. The Justice Department will not tolerate foreign repression on US soil, nor will we allow hostile nations to infiltrate or exploit our defence systems.”
Miller and Cui also allegedly hired two people to buy an ’embarrassing’ sculpture the artist made to prevent the artist from displaying the work during a protest. But unbeknown to Miller the two people he hired were actually FBI investigators.
FBI deputy director Dan Bongino said: “The defendants allegedly plotted to harass and interfere with an individual who criticised the actions of the People’s Republic of China while exercising their constitutionally protected free speech rights within the United States of America. The same individuals are also charged with trying to obtain and export sensitive US military technology to China.
“I want to commend the good work of the FBI and our partners in the US and overseas in putting a stop to these illegal activities.”
Court papers claim Miller returned from a trip to China in June 2023 boasting to undercover agents that he had met senior government officials and that the visit “couldn’t have gone better”.
The two men remain in Serbia and the US is co-ordinating with Serbian officials regarding their pending extraditions.
Last night, the Foreign Office said: “We are providing consular assistance to a British national following his arrest in Serbia in April and are in touch with the local authorities and his family.”