Brit held by US after being accused of ‘spying and plotting’ for China
A BRITISH businessman has been accused of spying and plotting to smuggle sensitive military technology to China.
The FBI claim investigators intercepted phone calls in which John Miller, 63, called Chinese leader Xi Jinping as “The Boss”.
The 63-year-old from Kent is also alleged to have tried to buy military hardware in the US for the People’s Liberation Army.
This included missile launchers, air defence radars and Black Hornet “microdrones” that can fly within feet of enemy soldiers and enter buildings to spy on troop positions.
Other equipment he attempted to purchase included a hand-held device approved by America’s National Security Agency for the secure communication of classified material.
Mr Miller also suggested smuggling a device by glueing it inside a food blender so it could then be “sent via DHL or Fedex to Hong Kong, according to US court papers.
The FBI said Mr Miller calling Xi “The Boss” showed his “awareness that he was acting at the direction and control of the [Chinese] government”.
He was arrested on April 24 after he was caught in a sting when the ‘arms dealers’ he was negotiating with turned out to be undercover FBI agents.
Mr Miller was on a business trip to Belgrade, Serbia, at the time and is still being held last night facing extradition to the US.
He is accused of conspiring with US-based Chinese national, Cui Guanghai, 43, and if convicted, both men face up to 40 years in prison.
Neighbours at his five-bedroom £1.5million home in Tunbridge Wells described him a “respectable family man”, according to the Mail on Sunday.