The Justice Department announced indictments against three men accused of stalking and harassing a Chinese dissident and smuggling sensitive military technology to China.
“Federal grand juries in Milwaukee and Los Angeles each returned indictments charging two foreign nationals, Cui Guanghai, 43, of China, and John Miller, 63, of the United Kingdom and a U.S. lawful permanent resident, with interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit interstate stalking (Los Angeles) and conspiracy, smuggling, and violations of the Arms Export Control Act (Milwaukee),” the Justice Department explained in a press release.
The Chinese suspects enlisted two individuals to prevent their target “from protesting President Xi’s appearance at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November 2023,” according to the Justice Department.” US Attorney Bill Essayli stated that the suspects “targeted a victim in our nation because he criticized the Chinese government and its president.”
Serbian law enforcement authorities have arrested two foreign nationals — 🇨🇳 Cui Guanghai and 🇬🇧 John Miller — at the request of the US.
— Byron Wan (@Byron_Wan) April 26, 2025
Cui and Miller are accused of coordinating and directing a conspiracy to harass, intimidate, and threaten a Los Angeles resident (the victim)… pic.twitter.com/MQ8TGk3LN8
However, the two men the suspects contacted were actually undercover FBI agents.
In the weeks leading up to the APEC summit, Cui and Miller directed and coordinated an interstate scheme to surveil the victim, to install a tracking device on the victim’s car, to slash the tires on the victim’s car, and to purchase and destroy a pair of artistic statues created by the victim depicting President Xi and President Xi’s wife.
A similar scheme took place in the spring of 2025, after the victim announced that he planned to make public an online video feed depicting two new artistic statues of President Xi and his wife. In connection with these plots, Cui and Miller paid two other individuals (Individual 3 and Individual 4), approximately $36,500 to convince the victim to desist from the online display of the statues. Unbeknownst to Cui and Miller, Individual 3 and Individual 4 were also affiliated with and acting at the direction of the FBI.
BREAKING: The Justice Department’s complaint against Cui and Miller adds new weight to growing concerns that China’s campaign to silence dissent is not limited to coordinated protests, but extends into covert, organized harassment on U.S. soil.https://t.co/uipsIrqv6h
— Probe International (@ProbeIntl) April 25, 2025
Court documents allege that Miller and Cui attempted to obtain military technology, “including missiles, air defense radar, drones, and cryptographic devices with associated crypto ignition keys for unlawful export from the United States to the People’s Republic of China.”
Cui and Miller face up to 20 years in prison if they are convicted.
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