Qing Zheng v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Qing Xiong Zheng, a native and citizen of China, petitions for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have juris diction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence the agency’s factual findings, Gu v. Gonzales, 454 F.3d 1014, 1018 (9th Cir.2006), and we deny the petition for review.

The record does not compel the conclusion that the harms Zheng suffered, even if credible and considered cumulatively, constitute past persecution in China. See Nagoulko v. INS, 333 F.3d 1012, 1016-18 (9th Cir.2003) (petitioner did not suffer significant physical harm and IJ was not compelled to find past persecution). Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s decision that Zheng’s refusal to pay a bribe to an official was a personal action involving no actual or imputed political opinion, see Pagayon v. Holder, 675 F.3d 1182, 1191 (9th Cir.2011) (per curiam), and that he failed to demonstrate that a political opinion would be at least one central reason for any future…