Ren

MEMORANDUM

Li Ren, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, petitions this court to review the denial of her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the regulations implementing the Convention Against Torture. In her application, Ren had claimed that she qualified as a “refugee,” 8 U.S.C. § 1158 (b)(1), alleging that she suffered persecution for her opposition to China’s population-control policies and her activism against municipal corruption. The IJ denied relief, concluding that she lacked credibility; the Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed the adverse credibility determination and adopted the reasoning that the IJ articulated.

We review findings of fact underlying the denial of asylum applications, including adverse credibility determinations, for substantial evidence. See Rizk v. Holder, 629 F.3d 1083, 1087 (9th Cir.2011). The IJ must provide “specific, cogent reason[s]” underlying his conclusions that “bear a legitimate nexus to the finding,” Garrovillas v. INS, 156 F.3d 1010, 1013 (9th Cir.1998) (internal quotation marks omitted); but he is not constrained to “reeit[e] ... unique or particular words,” de Leon-Barrios v. INS, 116 F.3d 391 ,…