Zhou Hua Zhu, a Chinese citizen living in the United States, sought asylum after having three American-born children. He presented testimony, documents, and a letter from a Chinese village committee indicating that he would be sterilized and fined if returned under the family-planning policy. An immigration judge credited his evidence and granted asylum, but the Board of Immigration Appeals reversed after independently reweighing the record and finding no reasonable possibility of sterilization. The Eleventh Circuit held that the Board committed legal error by reviewing the immigration judge’s predictive findings de novo. Under the governing regulation, factual findings—including predictions about future events—must receive clear-error review; the Board may review de novo only the legal question whether established facts satisfy the standard for a well-founded fear of persecution. The court also held that the Board improperly rejected a subsidiary factual finding about whether China counted American-born children under its policy. It granted the petition, vacated the Board’s decision, and remanded for the Board to apply the correct review standard before deciding the legal asylum question. Zhu’s other challenges were abandoned on appeal.