Two Are Charged With Stalking an Artist Who Criticized Xi Jinping

New York Times

3 hours ago

Two men have been charged with plotting to silence a Los Angeles artist critical of the Chinese government and trying to illegally export sensitive U.S. military technology to China, according to federal prosecutors.
The defendants, Cui Guanghai, 43, of China, and John Miller, 63, a British national who is a permanent U.S. resident, orchestrated a harassment campaign against a U.S.-based dissident artist whom the authorities did not name, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. The two men also tried to smuggle restricted technology into China, the office said.
The target of the harassment plot, the authorities say, was a Los Angeles-based artist who had publicly criticized President Xi Jinping of China. The artist planned to protest against President Xi during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November 2023 in San Francisco. The artist had also created sculptures of President Xi and his wife that, according to a federal complaint, depicted them kneeling, bare-chested, with their hands tied behind their backs.
Mr. Cui and Mr. Miller, who unknowingly hired two F.B.I. agents working undercover, arranged to place a tracking device on the artist's car and have its tires slashed, prosecutors said in court documents. The two also planned to destroy the artist's sculptures, though they were unsuccessful, the authorities said.
Mr. Cui and Mr. Miller are currently in custody in Serbia, according to federal prosecutors. It is unclear whether either man has legal representation.
'The United States will seek extradition of Cui and Miller and looks forward to working in partnership with the Republic of Serbia's Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Justice,' prosecutors said in a statement.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.