British businessman 'caught spying for China' faces 40 years in US prison after FBI sting
31 May 2025, 23:54 | Updated: 1 June 2025, 05:04
A British businessman has been accused of conspiring to supply sensitive US military technology to China and is now facing extradition to the United States following his arrest in Serbia.
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John Miller, 63, was detained in Belgrade on April 24 as part of an FBI-led sting operation.
US prosecutors allege he was working with a Chinese national to illegally acquire weapons systems and other classified equipment for the Chinese government.
Court documents filed in Wisconsin claim Miller referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as 'The Boss' in intercepted calls, which investigators say shows he was knowingly acting under direction from Beijing, according to the Mail on Sunday.
Miller is accused of plotting alongside 43-year-old Cui Guanghai, a US-based Chinese citizen, to smuggle military hardware including missile launchers, radar systems, drones, and secure communications devices.
In one exchange, Miller allegedly discussed sending a classified US device hidden inside a food blender via international courier to Hong Kong.
According to the indictment, Miller believed he was negotiating with arms dealers, but was in fact speaking with undercover FBI agents.
He reportedly told them China was willing to pay two to three times the value of the equipment in order to reverse-engineer it.
The investigation also uncovered an alleged campaign to intimidate a Chinese-American artist who is a vocal critic of President Xi.
Prosecutors claim Miller and Cui hired a private investigator to plant a tracking device on the artist’s car and tried to prevent him from protesting during Xi’s visit to San Francisco in late 2023.
At one point, Miller is said to have ordered agents - again, undercover FBI operatives - to slash the tyres on the artist’s vehicle. Instead, they deflated the tyres and sent photos to maintain the ruse.
He also allegedly arranged for actors to stage a fake protest against Taiwan’s president, instructing them to carry placards with anti-intervention messages.
Further accusations include an attempt to purchase and suppress a controversial sculpture by the same artist, which depicted Xi and his wife in a compromising pose.
The aim, prosecutors say, was to stop the artwork being displayed during demonstrations.
US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche described the case as a “blatant assault” on American democratic values.
“The defendants targeted a US resident for exercising free speech and conspired to traffic sensitive American military technology to the Chinese regime,” he said.
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".
Back in the UK, residents of Miller’s quiet street in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, allegedly expressed disbelief at the allegations, the Mail reported.
Neighbours described him as a “respectable family man” whose wife volunteers at a local church and whose daughter attended a prestigious public school.
Companies House records show Miller has held senior roles in at least nine UK companies, including TEFL Jobs China Ltd, now dissolved.
If convicted, Miller and Cui each face up to 40 years in prison.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson 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."
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