Chinese and British Nationals Indicted Over Alleged Plot to Silence a U.S. Dissident and Smuggle Military Technology to China
On May 30, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that federal grand juries in Los Angeles, California (the Central District of California), and Milwaukee, Wisconsin (the Eastern District of Wisconsin), had each returned indictments charging two foreign nationals: Cui Guanghai, 43, of China, and John Miller, 63, of the United Kingdom, a U.S. lawful permanent resident. The Los Angeles indictment charges interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit interstate stalking; the Milwaukee indictment charges conspiracy, smuggling and violations of the Arms Export Control Act (Press Release No. 25-566).
"As alleged, the defendants targeted a U.S. resident for exercising his constitutional right to free speech and conspired to traffic sensitive American military technology to the Chinese regime," said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, calling it a blatant assault on both national security and democratic values. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California said the indictment alleges that Chinese foreign actors targeted a victim in this nation because he criticized the Chinese government and its president. Akil Davis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, said the FBI will not tolerate transnational repression targeting those in the United States who express dissenting opinions about foreign leaders.
According to the Central District allegations, beginning in October 2023, Cui and Miller enlisted two individuals inside the United States to carry out a plot to prevent a Los Angeles resident — who had previously made public statements opposing the policies of the Chinese government and President Xi Jinping — from protesting President Xi's appearance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco in November 2023. Cui and Miller directed a scheme to surveil the victim, install a tracking device on his car, slash his tires, and purchase and destroy a pair of artistic statues he had created depicting President Xi and his wife. Unbeknownst to the defendants, the two individuals were affiliated with and acting at the direction of the FBI. A similar scheme followed in the spring of 2025, after the victim announced plans to publish an online video of two new statues; Cui and Miller paid two other individuals, also directed by the FBI, approximately $36,500 to convince the victim to desist from displaying them.
According to the Eastern District of Wisconsin allegations, beginning in November 2023, Miller and Cui solicited the procurement of U.S. defense articles — including missiles, air defense radar, drones and cryptographic devices with associated ignition keys — for unlawful export to China. They discussed concealing a cryptographic device in a blender, small electronics or a motor starter and shipping it first to Hong Kong, and paid approximately $10,000 as a deposit via a courier in the United States and a wire transfer to a U.S. bank account.
If convicted, Cui and Miller face maximum penalties of five years in prison for conspiracy, five years for interstate stalking, 20 years for violating the Arms Export Control Act and 10 years for smuggling. The FBI is investigating the case, and the United States is coordinating with Serbian authorities on the pair's pending extradition from Serbia, where they were arrested. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Ryan and Amanda B. Elbogen for the Central District of California, Benjamin Taibleson for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and Trial Attorneys Leslie Esbrook and Menno Goedman of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. The Justice Department stressed that an indictment is merely an allegation and that both defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于加利福尼亚州洛杉矶市的爱德华·R·罗伊鲍尔联邦大楼与联邦法院（255 E. Temple Street），加州中区联邦法院所在建筑群之一。Wikimedia Commons 用户供图，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Los Angeles, California (255 E. Temple Street), part of the Central District of California courthouse complex. Photo via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
