US Seeks Extradition of 2 Suspects Arrested in Serbia Over Scheme Targeting Los Angeles Artist

Epoch Times

27-04-2025

Two foreign nationals were arrested on April 24 in Serbia at the request of the U.S. government for allegedly hiring people to harass, intimidate, and threaten a Los Angeles resident who had publicly criticized Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.
Cui Guanghai, 43, of China, and John Miller, 63, of the United Kingdom, were
According to a criminal
Prosecutors said Cui and Miller started their plot targeting the Los Angeles resident in October 2023, when they allegedly enlisted two individuals in the United States to prevent him from traveling to San Francisco to protest against Xi's visit for the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Cui and Miller were unaware that the two individuals were an undercover FBI agent and a 'confidential human source working for the FBI,' according to the court document.
Prosecutors did not name the L.A. resident and identified the person only as 'the victim' in the court document.
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'The victim had made multiple statements expressing opposition to the policies and actions' of the Chinese regime and Xi on his social media, the court document states. The victim's social media posts included pictures of his artistic statues depicting Xi and his wife 'kneeling and with their hands tied behind their backs.'
In the weeks leading up to the APEC summit, the two defendants allegedly had the two individuals surveil the victim, install a tracking device on his car, slash the car's tires, and purchase and destroy his statues.
According to the court document, Miller instructed the undercover FBI agent to go to a Los Angeles residential address for a payment of $5,000 after the agent provided pictures of the statues being destroyed.
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Miller allegedly traveled to China in June 2023, where he met with Chinese officials in Beijing and northern China's Liaoning Province, as well as Cui's bosses in Beijing, the court document states. Additionally, Miller claimed that he 'had been promoted' following his meetings with Chinese officials in China.
Prosecutors stated that they believed Miller was aware that he was 'acting at the direction and control' of the Chinese regime when he referred to Xi as 'the boss' in his communications with others.
There was a similar scheme in the spring of 2025, prosecutors said, after the victim announced his plan to release a video online showing two new artistic statues of Xi and his wife. Cui and Miller allegedly paid two other people, who were 'affiliated with and acting at the direction of the FBI,' approximately $36,500 in an attempt to convince the victim not to go ahead with his plan.
Miller also allegedly tasked the FBI's confidential human source with staging protests in the United States, including a protest in the Los Angeles area against the visit of Taiwan's president on April 5, 2023, according to the court document.
The FBI's confidential human source then enlisted 'a third-party individual to execute [Miller's] tasking,' the court document states, who then 'hired actors to pose as protesters.'
A videographer recorded the protest and uploaded it to an online storage platform that was shared by Cui and Miller's email addresses.
The two defendants each face a maximum prison sentence of five years for conspiracy and five years for interstate stalking.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said the U.S. government will seek the extradition of Cui and Miller.