Jiaxiong Li v. Gonzales

MEMORANDUM **

Jiaxiong Li, a native and citizen of China, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision affirming the Immigration Judge’s (“U”) order denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence, Nagoulko v. INS, 333 F.3d 1012, 1015 (9th Cir.2003), and we grant the petition for review and remand.

The BIA’s adverse credibility determination rested on speculation that a government-owned opera company would not post bail for Li, one of its members, after he was arrested for Falun Gong activities and that Li would not be allowed to travel abroad and represent China three years after his arrest. Speculation and conjecture cannot form the basis of an adverse credibility finding, which must in *795 stead be based on substantial evidence. See Ge v. Ashcroft, 367 F.3d 1121, 1124-25 (9th Cir.2004) (personal conjecture about what the Chinese authorities would or would not do). See also Marcos v. Gonzales, 410 F.3d 1112, 1118 (9th Cir.2005) (when proffered reasons for an adverse credibility determination are…