The case confirms that an appellate court will not overturn a trial judge's factual findings based on credit assessments absent an arguable case of error. Where Chinese law governs, discharge of a debt requires clear words, and the word 'offset' in an agreement to transfer property in satisfaction of a debt does not constitute clear words of immediate discharge — discharge is conditional on actual performance. The repeated use of the technical term 'right to use' in a formal Chinese property transfer document attracts its technical meaning as a real property right requiring registration for effective transfer.
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