Asylum Provides Fresh Start

On the Fourth of July, Liu Qing was counting the months until officials of the Department of Immigration and Naturalization Services would hear his request for political asylum.

Mr. Liu, who is 27, made the difficult decision to leave China three years ago. He left behind a respected job, friends, his parents, and his siblings to seek out the political freedom he believed he could never have in his own country.

He was born in China's Fu Zhou province during the country's violent Cultural Revolution, which lasted from 1966 to 1976. The year of his birth was 1969, "the year of Woodstock," he noted last week with an ironic grin.

Jeffersonian Ideals

A poet and high school teacher, Mr. Liu, who had become enamored of the writings of Thomas Jefferson, was criticized for teaching about Jeffersonian ideals of democracy and was called in to the education office in the city of Fu Zhou, where he was working.

In March of 1993, on his first visit to the education office, he was told to change his approach. Over the course of that month, he was asked to return to the office again and again.

He was passed over for a permanent position and watched closely by local authorities. "Once you've done something and they've had to warn you, you have a black mark on your record. It follows you your whole life; you become a virtual prisoner," explained Melinda Rubin, Mr. Liu's immigration attorney.

One In Four

Mr. Liu began to feel he was not living up to his duty as a teacher, his responsibility to tell the truth, if he could not teach what he believed.

One of his professors who had talked about democracy a great deal eventually had to leave China. The man received political asylum in the United States.

Only one in four who apply for political asylum here receive it, Ms. Rubin explained. When Mr. Liu, who lives in Springs, first went to her, however, she felt certain he had a chance.

"He had a good case," she said. "His leaving was not an economic decision. He left everyone and everything. He deserved to live somewhere where he could be free."

What If . . . .

In the months leading up to the crucial interview, Mr. Liu told The Star he felt as if he was waiting to start his life over. He was afraid to plan beyond the interview. What if his request was denied? What would he do if he had to go back to China?

All his planning focused on the day, Sept. 4, when he would tell his story to an immigration officer.

He had gathered his poems printed in a Chinese newspaper, letters from colleagues, former students, friends, and family, and a Star article telling his story and that of another recent immigrant. He got a haircut the day before the interview.

Then, with a friend and his lawyer to support him, he went to the Immigration and Naturalization offices in New York City.

'Why Didn't You Move?"

The interview began with basic questions, Mr. Liu recalled. Why did you leave? How did you get here? Then it moved on to details: When did you get called to the education office? What did the building look like? What happened? Why didn't you move to another city?

When the ordeal was over he was still nervous, but felt confident the interview had gone well.

Two weeks later, he was celebrating a new birthday of sorts. On Sept. 18, he found out his bid for political asylum was successful.

Daniel Liu, Now

"That day was completely different from the day before it. Now I know the direction I can go, now I can make plans," said Mr. Liu. He is saving money and hopes to return to college next year. He has temporary status now and in a year is qualified to apply for permanent residency.

He says he feels extremely lucky, but there is also a sense of loss. With political asylum, he can travel outside the U.S. to anywhere except China. In fact, his new status means he may never be able to return to his native country.

He misses China, but not its politics. Now, he can call himself American, and is proud of that, but he does not want to lose his own cultural identity.

"It's like my name," he said.

When Mr. Liu came to the United States he took the English name Daniel as his own, and that is how most people here know him. "I can be American, but with a Chinese heart," he said.

Need To Hear It

"He's going to make an excellent American. We could use more like him," Ms. Rubin said.

"People here need to hear what he has to say. A lot of young people don't participate in the political process, they don't appreciate it, and here's someone from another country who gave up everything to come here."

"It reaffirms your faith in America," she said. "He risked his life because he thought this kind of liberty was so important."