WISCONSIN — In a globetrotting case that evokes a Jason Bourne plotline—set against real-world warnings from Pentagon leaders of an “imminent” Chinese invasion of Taiwan—a British businessman has been indicted for allegedly attempting to smuggle advanced U.S. military technology to China while referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping as “The Boss.”

Federal prosecutors allege that John Miller, 63, conspired with Chinese national Cui Guanghai, 43, to acquire and covertly export some of the U.S. military’s most sensitive defense hardware for reverse engineering by the Chinese Communist Party. The scheme allegedly involved encrypted communications, multi-continent spycraft, and a brazen campaign to intimidate dissidents inside the United States.

A grand jury indictment unsealed by the U.S. Department of Justice alleges the pair targeted restricted equipment including an advanced cryptographic device with its Crypto Ignition Key, Black Hornet surveillance microdrones, Stinger missile systems, an AGM-88E anti-radiation missile, air defense radar components, night vision goggles, and U.S.-standard armored vehicle plating. In intercepted conversations, Miller allegedly claimed the Chinese government was willing to pay “two to three times” the value of the equipment to enable reproduction in Chinese military labs.

Miller’s reference to Xi Jinping as “The Boss,” FBI agents say, indicated his “awareness that he was acting at the direction and control of the [Chinese] government.”

Court documents detail how the two men solicited the procurement of these systems for unlawful export. Working with individuals identified in court filings as “Individual 5” and “Individual 6,” Miller and Cui allegedly explored ways to move the cryptographic device out of the U.S. through covert means—using methods reminiscent of trade-based money laundering and drug trafficking schemes previously identified by Canadian police investigators describing Chinese Communist Party-linked operations in Vancouver, Canada.

The indictment says the men planned to conceal the device inside everyday electronics—“in a blender, small electronics, or a motor starter”—and ship it first to Hong Kong. Cui and Miller allegedly paid approximately $10,000 as a deposit via courier and wire transfer to a U.S. bank account.

Miller, a dual U.K. and St. Kitts & Nevis citizen, is also described as residing in the United States. His passport profile and international activity match the kind of cross-border spycraft now alleged in the case. He was arrested in April 2025 in Belgrade, Serbia, during an FBI-coordinated sting.

But the plot extended beyond arms trafficking. Prosecutors allege Miller and Cui orchestrated an intimidation campaign targeting a Los Angeles-based artist critical of Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party. In 2023, the men allegedly hired operatives—who turned out to be undercover FBI agents—to track the dissident’s movements, slash their tires, and destroy politically provocative artwork portraying Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan. When the artist later announced plans to unveil new sculptures in 2025, Miller and Cui allegedly paid $36,500 to another set of undercover agents to pressure the dissident into canceling the event.

“The defendants allegedly plotted to harass and interfere with an individual who criticized the actions of the People’s Republic of China while exercising their constitutionally protected free speech rights within the United States of America,” said FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. “The same individuals also are charged with trying to obtain and export sensitive U.S. military technology to China.”

If convicted, Miller and Cui face decades in prison under multiple counts, including conspiracy, arms export violations, smuggling, and interstate stalking.

As previously reported by The Bureau, Serbian authorities arrested Miller following a U.S. request and the unsealing of a separate criminal complaint detailing the harassment plot. According to those filings, beginning in October 2023, the pair actively recruited U.S.-based operatives to surveil and sabotage the dissident ahead of Xi Jinping’s visit to San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Unbeknownst to the conspirators, the individuals they believed to be hired muscle—identified in court as Individual 1 and Individual 2—were working under FBI direction. Cui and Miller allegedly instructed them to install a GPS tracker on the dissident’s vehicle, destroy politically sensitive artwork, and disrupt planned protests during Xi’s visit.

The case bears striking similarities to another Bureau-reported incident involving the destruction of a Mojave Desert art installation titled “CCP Virus,” which portrayed Xi Jinping’s face morphing into the COVID-19 virus. In that case, U.S. authorities uncovered a sprawling conspiracy with links to the United Nations and China’s United Front Work Department. The plot implicated corrupted U.S. law enforcement officers and private investigators allegedly working for a Chinese tech magnate based in Hong Kong. That operation exposed how U.S. citizens—motivated by greed, ideological alignment, or thrill-seeking—acted as enforcers of Beijing’s repression, funded through offshore bounties and wire transfers to target Chinese regime critics on American soil.

The Miller-Cui operation unfolded amid similar tensions during the November 2023 APEC summit in San Francisco, where pro-democracy activists and pro-Beijing groups clashed violently. Demonstrators accused Chinese-backed operatives of coordinating assaults at the airport, Moscone Center, and St. Regis Hotel. Tibetan student activists, Hong Kong democracy supporters, and members of the Chinese Democracy Party reported injuries from attacks involving flagpoles, metal rods, and pepper spray.

Li Delong, a senior figure in the Chinese Democracy Party’s Los Angeles committee, told reporters he was physically assaulted while holding a protest banner near the summit venue. Another Hong Kong activist interviewed by The Bureau described being stunned as uniformed police stood by while apparent thugs threatened U.S. citizens in broad daylight.

The brazenness of these scenes—and the scale of the alleged criminal conspiracy now emerging in federal court—reinforces patterns first seen in the “CCP Virus” case. Together, they raise a deeply urgent question for Western intelligence services: with arms traffickers and regime enforcers allegedly operating on behalf of Beijing inside the United States—while simultaneously targeting critics of Xi—what happens if the worst-case scenario unfolds? If the People’s Liberation Army invades Taiwan, will fifth column networks in North America be activated?

That question has taken on fresh urgency. As reported Saturday by The Bureau, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used his address at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore to deliver a stark warning: the threat of a Chinese assault on Taiwan “is real and could be imminent.”

“We are preparing for war in order to deter war—to achieve peace through strength,” Hegseth said. “Any attempt by Communist China to conquer Taiwan by force will result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world. There’s no reason to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real and could be imminent.”