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<keyword id="19910826" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="London" source="keywords">London</keyword>: <keyword id="22709851" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shreyas-Royal" source="keywords">Shreyas Royal</keyword> is a <keyword id="22722922" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="British-Indian-chess-prodigy" source="keywords">British Indian chess prodigy</keyword> who, at just 15 years old, is now <keyword id="22722925" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Englands-youngest-grandmaster" source="keywords">England's youngest grandmaster</keyword> (GM) after clocking his latest victory in the <keyword id="22722924" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="British-Chess-Championships" source="keywords">British Chess Championships</keyword>. The London schoolboy crossed the final hurdle to bag the final <keyword id="21663814" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="GM-Norm" source="keywords">GM Norm</keyword> - a performance benchmark accrued over a number of games across tournaments - during the championship in Hull last week. <br /><br /> It marked a major milestone for his family, which was granted leave to remain in the UK in recognition of his exceptional chess genius after his IT expert father's work visa had expired in 2018. <br /><br /> "It feels great to pay off part of what the country had done for us," said Jitendra Singh, on his son's latest accomplishment. <br /><br /> "We're both very delighted to hit the record in the country that has nurtured his chess career," he said. <br /><br /> Shreyas beat Grand Master David Howell's record of becoming the youngest back in 2007, aged 16 years old. According to the English Chess Federation (ECF), his notable results in the championship last week included defeating Howell and drawing with the eventual winner Gawain Jones, and top GMs Luke McShane and Michael Adams. <br /><br /> "Keep persisting, no matter how tough things may get. There will always be setbacks and failures, but how you overcome them will define your character and will put you on the right path," said Shreyas when asked for his advice for other budding young chess players like him. <br /><br /> He and his supportive father now have their eyes set on making it to the national chess team and achieving even greater heights. <br /><br /> "It's truly been a remarkable journey, and I cannot thank everyone who has helped me enough," added Shreyas. <br /><br /> Shreyas, who was born in India, moved to the UK at the age of three with parents Jitendra and Anju Singh from Bangalore six years ago.  <br /><br /> Back in 2018, ECF had campaigned for the boy to stay on in the UK and hone his talent. In a joint letter to then home secretary Sajid Javid, Labour MPs Rachel Reeves and Matthew Pennycook - now Cabinet ministers - had said the UK would lose an "exceptional talent" if Shreyas were to leave due to his father's visa running out. <br /><br /> "The UK should always encourage the world's brightest, most talented people to work and make their lives here. Shreyas is recognised by the English Chess Federation as the country's greatest chess prospect in a generation," their letter said. <br /><br /> The Home Office reconsidered the case to allow an extension to their stay, which has since led to a British citizenship. <br /><br /> Last year, Shreyas joined other young chess prodigies at 10 Downing Street as then prime minister Rishi Sunak unveiled a GBP 1 million investment package to support children attending schools in disadvantaged areas across England to learn and play chess, improve visibility and availability of the game and fund elite playing.

Keep persisting: British Indian chess prodigy Shreyas Royal on feat as youngest grandmaster

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An eight-year-old girl has set new chess records at a European tournament.</li><li>Bodhana Sivanandan won the women's prize at the European blitz championship in Croatia.</li></ul><p>An eight-year-old girl from London has set new <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/deepmind-founder-demis-hassabis-chess-champion-peter-thiel-funding-2023-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">chess</a> records at a European tournament.</p><p>Bodhana Sivanandan won the women's prize at the European blitz championship in Zagreb, Croatia, finishing 73rd out of 555 players.</p><p>Sivanandan arrived late to the event in the Croatian capital after going to the wrong entrance and had to forfeit her first game, losing by default, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/dec/22/chess-bodhana-sivanandan-eight-sets-new-records-with-victory-in-zagreb">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>Nevertheless, the young prodigy won 8.5/13 points against a field that contained some of the best players in the world, including 48 grandmasters — the highest title a chess player can hold.</p><p>In one game, the eight-year-old defeated the international master and England women's coach Lorin D'Costa.</p><p>In the final round, she drew with Romanian grandmaster <span>Vladislav Nevednichy, 54, the youngest player ever to avoid defeat to a chess champion of the top rank in a competitive game.</span></p><p><span>Her tournament performance was</span> rated at 2316,<span> the level of a woman grandmaster, per The Guardian.</span></p><p>Dominic Lawson, the president of the English Chess Federation, said her performance was "completely remarkable but not that surprising, because she is a phenomenon," <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bodhana-sivanandan-chess-master-defeat-match-hcd5j7pmt">The Times</a> reported.</p><p>"It's an extraordin­ary result for an eight-year-old and something we've certainly never seen in this country," Lawson said. "She has a remarkably mature playing style, it's strategic and patient. She has what you might describe as a long game."</p><p>Many seasoned chess players have also weighed in on Sivanandan's fine display, with <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/IrinaBulmaga/status/1736077518363382168">Irina Bulmaga</a>, a Romanian professional chess player and international master, hailing it as an "unbelievable result."</p><p>"What a phenomenon she is," she added in a post on X, formerly Twitter.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/LawrenceTrentIM/status/1734976939243208972">Lawrence Trent</a>, another international master wrote in another post: "Bodhana Sivanandan is one of the greatest talents I've witnessed in recent memory. The maturity of her play, her sublime touch, it's truly breathtaking. I have no doubt she will be England's greatest player and most likely one of the greatest the game has ever seen."</p><p>The eight-year-old took up the game during the UK's COVID-19 pandemic and learned quickly, even being invited to play chess with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street, The Times reported.</p>

8-year-old British schoolgirl amazes chess world with historic European championship victory

<p><strong>Good morning! </strong>I'm Aaron Weinman and on this day last year, Coca-Cola lost $4 billion in value because <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/euro-2020-cristiano-ronaldo-coca-cola-market-value-snubs-drink-2021-6-1030526880">Cristiano Ronaldo removed Coke bottles</a> from his press table at the European Championships.</p><p>Now, let's get into today's news.</p><p><em>If this was forwarded to you,</em><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter/10-things-on-wall-street"><em> sign up here</em></a><em>. Download Insider's app </em><a href="https://www.insider.com/app"><em>here</em></a><em>.</em></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-lashing-out-recession-work-from-home-tesla-twitter-2022-6"></a></p><p><strong>1. It's anyone's guess whether Elon Musk will buy Twitter. </strong>The billionaire agreed to acquire the social-media platform for about $44 billion in April, but acts like he wants to walk away from it as he continues to moan about fake accounts.</p><p>Musk's making an appearance at a Twitter all-hands meeting on Thursday, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-to-attend-all-hands-meeting-at-twitter-2022-6">according to an internal memo viewed by Insider</a>, giving Twitter workers a chance to field questions to the billionaire.</p><p>One burning inquiry — and lively point of discourse — surrounds the financing attached to the acquisition. The deal comprises Musk's gargantuan $21 billion equity commitment, and the $12.5 billion margin loan that he secured against his stock in Tesla (and that he's since paid back).</p><p>The last piece of debt is the $13 billion in bridge loans, part of which would be taken off banks' balance sheets and sold as high-yield bonds or leveraged loans in the capital markets.</p><p><strong>Banks that underwrote this </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-elon-musk-was-able-to-buy-twitter-despite-risks-2022-4"><strong>stand to pocket millions of dollars in fees</strong></a><strong> each in what's been an otherwise paltry year for capital-markets dealmaking</strong>.</p><p>But assuming Musk goes through with a deal for Twitter, this "bridge financing" will not be so easy to offload onto third-party investors like hedge funds, institutional investors, and collateralized loan obligations, the latter being the largest buyer (more than 60%) of leveraged loans, bankers familiar with the deal told Insider.</p><p>Bond and loan investors, above all else, love something Twitter does not have — cash flow. Musk's lack of a business plan and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-lashing-out-recession-work-from-home-tesla-twitter-2022-6">erratic behavior also has investors spooked</a>, which makes selling this debt a tall order, should that day ever come.</p><p>This is one of the reasons why well-known leveraged-finance banks like Credit Suisse, RBC, Deutsche Bank, and Citi passed on underwriting the term loans, the bankers familiar with the transaction said.</p><p>Banks don't want to be left holding onto this debt should the investor community say "thanks, but no thanks."</p><p><strong style="background-color: #ffffff;">You can listen to me talk about this on <a href="https://share.spooler.fm/ZVvWpO/DedneB.html">The Refresh from Insider</a>.</strong></p><p><u><strong>In other news:</strong></u></p><p><u><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/point72-quant-denis-dancanet-chess-helped-career-wall-street-tech-2022-6"></a></strong></u></p><div type="image" title="Denis Dancanet, president of P72's Cubist Systematic Strategies group, in his head shot against a blue backdrop." height="599" width="799" msid="92207792" hostid="261"></div><p><strong>2. Denis Dancanet defected to the US via a chess tournament before becoming one of Wall Street's most-powerful quant execs. </strong>He also built two startups, including one that's constructing flying cars. Dancanet's story is the latest from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/quantrepreneurs-wall-street-quant-traders-build-silicon-valley-unicorn-2022-3">Insider's series</a> that highlights <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/point72-quant-denis-dancanet-chess-helped-career-wall-street-tech-2022-6">top quants who quit the Street to build something new</a>.</p><p><strong>3. Lawyers at Wall Street's go-to firms are making boatloads of cash. </strong>One attorney with "outrageous discretionary spending" <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/money-diaries-big-law-attorney-making-500000-salary-spending-2022-6">told Insider how he allocates his paycheck</a>.</p><p><strong>4.</strong> <strong>Staying with rich folks, these heavy-pocketed people are tackling inflation with bets on music royalties and farms. </strong>Four investment strategy heads told Insider <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wealth-management-alternatives-investing-portfolio-inflation-recession-2022-6">what is hot and what's not for the country's wealthiest folks</a>.</p><p><strong>5. This Wall Street copper is warning about WhatsApp and Signal use. </strong>Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, told Bloomberg that banks and hedge funds should monitor these encrypted apps as these messaging services are <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-13/wall-street-s-top-cop-says-texts-can-hold-firm-ending-bombs?sref=ipW5reFz">where his team will look for nefarious activities</a>.</p><p><strong>6. Sen. Dan Sullivan will testify about his proposal to stop index fund managers from voting on shareholder proposals. </strong>The Republican from Alaska wants these proposals to have explicit consent from the larger institutional investors. <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/hearings/considering-the-index-fund-voting-process">The testimony</a> comes as BlackRock and other money managers face <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/3d9436f4-f341-4885-817a-b2dd340c9868">heavy criticism from mostly conservatives over their liberal-leaning initiatives around ESG</a>.</p><p><strong>7.</strong> <strong>Thoma Bravo shaved 3% off the price it's paying for software company Anaplan, the Financial Times reported. </strong>In return, the buyout group increased the fee it would pay Anaplan <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/117ebfdd-5d94-4cd0-9dc3-01de3c5c14c1">if the deal falls through to $1 billion from $586 million</a>.</p><p><strong>8. HSBC could unlock almost $27 billion in value should it split off its Asian business</strong>, as a big shareholder has called for. The British bank could spin off its Asian business, or its Hong Kong retail bank through IPOs, according to a report from In Toto Consulting <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-12/hsbc-could-unlock-26-5-billion-in-asia-spin-off-report-says?cmpid=BBBXT061322_DEALS&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_term=220613&amp;utm_campaign=deals&amp;sref=ipW5reFz">published by Bloomberg</a>.</p><p><strong>9. Celsius said it's pausing account withdrawals and transfers. </strong>The crypto lender has doled out more than $8 billion to clients but <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/crypto-lender-celsius-freeze-withdrawals-transfers-accounts-market-tumble-bitcoin-2022-6">bitcoin and other digital currencies have nosedived in recent months</a>.</p><p><strong>10. Israeli startup Odeeo just scored $9 million in seed funding. </strong>Here's key slides from the deck that helped the mobile game advertiser leverage demand for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-game-advertising-odeeo-raised-9-million-pitchdeck-2022-6">a segment that could top $6 billion this year</a>.</p><p><u><strong>Done deals:</strong></u></p><ul><li>Bain Capital Credit and J.C. Flowers &amp; Co. <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220613005146/en/Insigneo-Financial-Group-Fast-Growing-Independent-Wealth-Platform-to-Receive-100-Million-Investment-Led-by-Bain-Capital-Credit-and-J.C.-Flowers">invested $100 million</a> in wealth management platform Insigneo Financial Group.</li><li>Alpine Investor-backed Trilon Group <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220613005206/en/Ramey-Kemp-Associates-and-Trilon-Group-Announce-Strategic-Growth-Partnership">acquired Ramey Kemp Associates</a>, a North Carolina-based transportation consultant.</li></ul><p><strong>Event invite: </strong>The fourth installment in Insider's "Financing a Sustainable Future" series is today, June 14 at noon Eastern. This event, in partnership with Bank of America, focuses on corporate governance, perhaps the most difficult measure of ESG reporting. <strong>Check out the previous </strong><a href="https://events.insider.com/financing-a-sustainable-future?utm_source=AaronNewsletter&amp;utm_medium=&amp;utm_campaign=2022-6-14_Principles_BankofAmerica"><strong>three events and register for today's event here</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p><em>Curated by Aaron Weinman in New York. Tips? Email </em><a href="mailto:aweinman@insider.com"><em>aweinman@insider.com</em></a><em> or tweet </em><a href="https://twitter.com/aaronw11"><em>@aaronw11</em></a><em>. Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet </em><a href="https://twitter.com/hallam_bullock"><em>@hallam_bullock</em></a><em>) in London.</em></p>

Wall Street: Elon's $13 billion quagmire

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters/Eddie Keogh</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Goldman Sachs' economic research team circulated a note over the weekend predicting the results of the UEFA European Championship, which begins on Friday night in Paris.</p><p>Goldman is backing host nation France to win the tournament, saying that its models suggest the French team has a 23.1% chance of victory, compared to 19.9% for 2014 World Cup winners Germany. Coming in third place are current holders Spain, with a 13.6% chance. Perhaps a little surprisingly for British fans, England is seen as the fourth most likely to win, with a 10.5% chance of doing so.</p><p>At the other end of the scale it is bad news for Albania, which the bank's analysts say has literally no chance of being crowned champions. Home nations Wales and Northern Ireland shouldn't get their hopes up either: Goldman estimates the likelihood of either side taking home the cup is 0.1%. Here's Goldman's chart showing all of its predictions:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="Goldman Sachs" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57554ce4dd089571078b4b63-960/screen shot 2016-06-06 at 10.41.37.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>Goldman Sachs</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>To come up with the ranking, bank researchers used data from thousands of previous games:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Using historical performance data for each team-most importantly the Elo rating system originally devised to rank chess players-we estimate a set of probabilities that a particular team will reach a particular round, up to and including the championship. We also provide a modal "most likely" case for how the tournament will unfold (although "most likely" does not mean "likely").</p><p>Goldman didn't just predict the overall outcomes however but went into great detail forecasting the outcome of every game in the championship's knockout stage. If the predictions are to be believed, England will triumph over Romania in the last 16, then beat Portugal in the quarter-finals, before a heartbreaking loss at the hands of Spain in the semi-finals. Here the full bracket:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="Goldman Sachs" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57554ce4dd089571078b4b64-960/screen shot 2016-06-06 at 10.17.48.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>Goldman Sachs</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Researchers Jan Hatzius, Sven Jari Stehn, and Donnie Millar may have spent a serious amount of time and effort generating their predictions, but note that they're not 100% confident of the results. Here's the key quote:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">It is difficult to assess how much faith one should have in these predictions. On the plus side, our approach carefully considers the stochastic nature of the tournament using statistical methods, and we do think that the Elo rating-the most important input into our analysis-is a compelling summary of a team's track record. On the minus side, we ignore a number of potentially important factors that are difficult to summarize statistically, including the quality of the individual players unless they are reflected in the team's recent track record. And there is no room for human judgment (which may not be such a bad thing given that none of us are really football experts but some are enthusiastic Germany supporters).</p><p>This year's European Championship isn't the first time Goldman has had a go at predicting a major football tournament, and in 2014 predicted that host nation Brazil would win the World Cup, giving them a 48% chance of doing so. Brazil was knocked out at the semi-final stage of the tournament, losing 7-1 to Germany in a game that shocked pretty much everyone watching.</p><p>While it failed to pick Germany as the eventual winner, Goldman notes that its modelling, when fully updated, "predicted the winner of every match in the knockout stage except for the 7-1 semifinal between Germany and Brazil."</p><p>The bank's predictions are pretty much in line with the odds being offered by bookmakers right now. Ladbrokes currently <a href="https://sports.ladbrokes.com/en-gb/betting/football/euro-2016/euro-2016-outrights/">has the same four teams as the most likely winners of the tournament.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/alibaba-jack-mas-secrets-to-success-2016-5">REVEALED: Alibaba founder Jack Ma's secrets to success</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="htYmNtMzE6dD7eBpI_wAtO8n2X-00eMe" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Goldman Sachs has predicted the winner of Euro 2016 - and it isn't England

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters/Thomas Mukoya</span></p><p class="caption">Spectators react as a plane flies over them during the Vintage Air Rally at the Nairobi national park in Kenya's capital Nairobi.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Here is what you need to know.</p><p><strong><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-holidayshopping-idUSKBN13L0ZH">Black Friday sales were down</a>. </strong>Brick and mortar retail sales fell 5% year-over-year for Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday as online spending broke $3 billion for the first time ever, Reuters reports.</p><p><strong><a href="http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN13N0Q6">Tensions are growing among OPEC members</a>. </strong>The oil cartel's meeting is scheduled for November 30 and there are growing doubts as to whether or not members and non-members can agree to a production cut, according to Reuters. West Texas Intermediate crude oil is weaker by 0.2% near $46.00 per barrel.</p><p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-us-dollar-is-under-pressure-in-asia-2016-11">The US dollar is lower</a>. </strong>The US dollar index is down 0.4% at 101.12 as the greenback loses ground against all of its major peers aside from the British pound.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-28/boj-has-first-loss-in-four-years-to-prepare-for-jgb-liabilities">The Bank of Japan posted its first loss in four years</a>.</strong> The BOJ announced a<span> net loss of 200.2 billion yen ($1.8 billion) in the six months through September as the yen strengthened and the central bank was forced to write down the value of its bond holdings, Bloomberg says. </span></p><p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fillon-defeats-juppe-french-primaries-presidential-election-2016-11?r=UK&amp;IR=T">The French election is down to two candidates</a>.</strong> French conservative <span>François Fillon will face far-right National Party candidate Marine Le Pen in the upcoming May election, Reuters reports. </span></p><p><span><strong><a href="http://www.cityam.com/254464/uks-fifth-most-entrepreneurial-country-world">Singapore is the world's most entrepreneurial country</a>. </strong>That's according to <span>the Ashish J Thakkar Global Entrepreneurship Index from the Mara Foundation and Opinium. New Zealand, Denmark, Canada, and the UK round out the top five. </span></span></p><p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/report-samsung-might-split-itself-in-two-2016-11?r=UK&amp;IR=T">Samsung could split itself in two</a>. </strong>The electronics giant is considering a proposal from <span>US activist hedge fund Elliott Management that would split it <span>into a holding vehicle for ownership purposes and an operating company, according to <span>Seoul Economic Daily.</span> </span></span></p><p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/carlsen-karjakin-world-chess-championship-games-9-10-summary-2016-11?r=UK&amp;IR=T">The 2016 World Chess Championship is down to a single game</a>. </strong>T<span>itle-holder Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Sergey Karjakin of Russia</span> are tied up at 5.5 points apiece heading into the 12th and final match, which is scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. ET in Lower Manhattan.</p><p><strong>Stock markets around the world trade mixed. </strong>Hong Kong's Hang Seng (+0.5%) led in Asia and Germany's DAX (-0.8%) lags in Europe. The S&amp;P 500 is set to open down 0.3% near 2,205.</p><p><strong>US economic data is light. </strong>Dallas Fed will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down 3 basis points at 2.33%.</p>

10 things you need to know before the opening bell

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Mark Kolbe/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Prime Minister Scott Morrison gives the order for work to commence on the construction of the Western Sydney airport on September 24, 2018 in Sydney, Australia.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has moved to counter China's growing influence in the Pacific by announcing that it is time Australia make a "step-up to the Pacific."</strong></li><li><strong>The PM is promising nearby Pacific nations closer economic, military and diplomatic ties, following a decade of Chinese expansion.</strong></li><li><strong>The comments, which were made without naming China, are reminiscent of former US President Barack Obama's unfulfilled pledge of an "Asia Pivot," made during a visit to Canberra - also a thinly disguised and largely abandoned strategy to check the advance of China.</strong></li><li><strong>Morrison aims to make the Pacific the center of Australian foreign policy. The centerpiece of that will be a $A2 billion facility to fund major regional projects.</strong></li><li><strong>He said Australia needs a "southwest Pacific that is secure strategically, stable economically, and sovereign politically."</strong></li></ul><p>In Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's first landmark Pacific policy address, the newly installed PM said Australia will commit anew to the Pacific, setting up a multibillion-dollar infrastructure bank to fund projects in the region and appointing a series of new diplomatic posts.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; color: black;">"Australia will step up in the Pacific and take our engagement with the region to a new level," the prime minister said Thursday.</span><br /><br />"While we have natural advantages in terms of history, proximity and shared values, Australia cannot take its influence in the southwest Pacific for granted, and too often we have," Morrison said.<br /><br />Morrison announced new <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="defense">defense</keyword> force mobile-training team, annual meetings of defense, police, and border security chiefs, and new diplomatic posts in a number of Pacific countries.<br /><br />The centerpiece will be a $2 billion AUD financial facility to help fund major regional projects while the existing export financing agency (EFA) will be boosted by another one billion dollars.</p><div>Referring to Australia's 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper, Morrison said the stability and economic progress of the Pacific region are of "fundamental importance," and no single country can tackle the challenges on its own.</div><div><br />Morrison announced his Pacific Pivot ahead of a milestone meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Asia-Pacific regional leaders next week at the <a href="https://www.apec2018png.org/">APEC forum in Papua New Guinea</a>.<br /><br />Morrison said it was time Australia opened a "new chapter in relations with our Pacific family."<br /><br />"Australia has an abiding interest in a Southwest Pacific that is secure strategically, stable economically, and sovereign politically."</div><div></div><div><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-treasury-secretary-hank-paulson-warns-us-china-trade-war-2018-11">Former US Treasury secretary Hank Paulson warns of an 'economic iron curtain' if the US and China can't find a way to get along</a></em></div><div></div><div><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Rick Rycroft-Pool/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">U.S. President Barack Obama (C) meets senators and lawmakers following his address in the Australian Parliament on the second day of his 2-day visit to Australia, on November 17, 2011 in Canberra, Australia.`</p></div><p></p></div></div></div><h2>A familiar tone</h2><div>In a speech that strongly echoed former <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/17/remarks-president-obama-australian-parliament">US President Barack Obama's "Asian Pivot"</a> address in Canberra in 2011, Morrison outlined his own plan to project Australian soft power in an attempt to thwart China's unchecked economic and industrial expansion across the Pacific over the last decade.<br /><br />In a pretty unforgettable speech to Australia's parliament on November 17, 2011, Obama declared that "America is back!"<br /><br />"Let there be no doubt: in the Asia-Pacific in the 21st century, the United States of America is all-in."<br /><br />That was about the zenith of the much-vaunted pivot, and at around exactly the same time China started to take its interests in the Pacific to a fresh intensity.<br /><br />According to Reuters' calculations, since Obama's"Asia Pivot," China has poured $1.3 billion in concessionary loans and gifts to almost instantly become the Pacific's second-largest donor after Australia.</div><div></div><div><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?id=tag%3Areuters.com%2C2018%3Anewsml_RC1D979ABC60%3A172824989&amp;search=all%3Axi%20jinping">Damir Sagolj/Reuters</a></span></p><p class="caption">Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects troops at the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Hong Kong Garrison in one of events marking the 20th anniversary of the city's handover from British to Chinese rule, in Hong Kong</p></div><p></p></div></div></div><h2>Falling under Beijing's influence</h2><div>Today, China is the region's biggest bilateral lender, although Australia's significant aid programs mean it remains the largest financial backer in the South Pacific.<br /><br />While China has always maintained a political stake in the region as part of its ongoing diplomatic chess battle with Taiwan, the sheer magnitude and speed of Chinese assistance eventually raised alarms and even hysteria among Western-aligned nations that the string of southern Pacific island states was very quickly falling under Beijing's influence.<br /><br /><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Rod McGuirk</span></p><p class="caption">Scott Morrison.</p></div><p></p></div></div>But if Australia's backyard was finding itself over a Beijing barrel, then Morrison put his hand up for the first time to acknowledge that Australia and its major allies, the US foremost amongst them, wore some of the blame for that and had neglected the region for too long.<br /><br />Australia, he said, had taken the Pacific and its nations "for granted."<br /><br />Speaking from a military facility in Townsville where US troops are based, Morrison redrew the Pacific's strategic importance to Australia's foreign and defense policy.<br /><br />Morrison promised closer economic, military and diplomatic ties in what will undoubtedly be seen from Beijing as a move to counter its efforts to drive its controversial One Belt, One Road initiative or in this case its 21st-century maritime silk road.</div><div></div><div><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/xi-jinping-surprising-speech-hong-kong-zhuhai-macau-bridge-opening-2018-10">Xi Jinping caught everyone off guard while celebrating China's $20 billion, 35-mile sea bridge</a></em><br /><br />Fortunately, Beijing won't even have to pick up the phone with Morrison's Foreign Minister Marise Payne already in Beijing heading up Australia's first mission to China in several years after an extended diplomatic freeze out.<br /><br />"This is not just our region, or our neighborhood. It's our home," Morrison said.<br /><br />Morrison flagged that the region requires around $4 billion per year in investments up to 2030, adding, "It's where Australia can make the biggest difference in world affairs."<br /><br />But that is something China has been more than happy to help achieve.<br /><br />Beijing has sewn up diplomatic relations with eight Pacific island countries, from the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, Niue, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu. (Others of course, recognize Taiwan.) <br /><br />In the ten years between 2006 and 2016, The Lowy Institute a Sydney-based think tank, reckons Beijing has probably injected more than $2.3 billion into the region </div><div></div><div><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Hamish Blair/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">A general view of play during the 5th v 6th match between Fiji and Cook Islands played at Club Hippique during the ICC East Asia Pacific Women's Championship on May 17, 2012 in Port Vila, Vanuatu.</p></div><p></p></div></div><br /><br />China has been more than happy to accommodate small nations such as Vanuatu, Tonga and the Solomon Islands with concessional loans, criticized by many as overt "debt-trap diplomacy." <br /><br />Colombo's failure to get on top of $6 billion in debt repayments to Beijing's state-owned enterprises has already given Beijing what many analysts consider a critically handy strategic toehold in Sri Lanka, in the port of Hambantota, including a 99-year-lease. <br /><br />The port has idyllic views of the major Indian Ocean sea lanes.<br /><br />Elsewhere China is copping its first significant OBOR pushback out of the Asia-Pacific. Malaysia is trying to find itself some wriggle room, preferably around perceived inequalities in the huge $23 billion of China-originated infrastructure deals Kuala Lumpur has signed off on.<br /><br />Part of Australia's appeal to the Pacific will be in aid and funding transfers that have traditionally not been about incurring trade deficits or weighty balance of payments crisis.<br /><br />However, academics including James Laurenceson, deputy director of the Australia China Research Institute say that analysis of debt in the Pacific strongly suggests that the "debt-trap diplomacy" argument is without much foundation.<br /><br />What is certain, however, is that over and above China's bilateral aid programs across the pacific and its support for regional organisations, Beijing has been at pains to show it is a partner in good faith. <br /><br />Beijing has backed and hosted major regional meetings, most recently in 2013, in which it announced a suite of aid measures to boost economic resilience and diplomatic engagement, while also providing strong support to regional organisations, most particularly the Pacific Islands Forum.<br /><br />China has provided generous scholarship programs for Pacific islands students and contributes significant human resources and training for pacific island government officials.<br /><br />Johnny Koanapo Rasou, Vanuatu's Member of Parliament for <a href="https://www.gov.vu/en/public-information/196-china-s-diplomacy-in-the-pacific">Tanna Constituency</a>, where China has been delivering badly needed road works and infrastructure, said in a press statement last year that Vanuatu had its eyes wide open as China's assistance becomes more and more evident.<br /><br />"Our people are now learning more about China's capability to positively contribute to our development aspirations."<br /><br />"The manner in which the Chinese Government is delivering their aid to Vanuatu is different from the styles we are used to from New Zealand or Australia. <br /><br />"But we must accept that all our development partners have different state structures. China is a communist state but it has created an enabling environment for its own citizens to flourish and therefore they themselves can go out and invest in other countries." </div><h2>League of debtor nations</h2><div><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Nick Perry</span></p><p class="caption">In this June 1, 2015 photo, a walking path leads up a barren moonscape on Yasur volcano on Tanna Island in Vanuatu.</p></div><p></p></div></div><br /><br />However, according to Thomson Reuters almost half (49.08%) of Vanuatu's external debt belongs to China.<br /><br />In August, Tongan Prime Minister <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pacific-debt-tonga-graphic/tonga-pm-fears-asset-seizures-as-pacific-debts-to-china-mount-idUSKBN1L10KM">'Akilisi Pōhiva said</a> he hoped Pacific states could negotiate together to find a way out from under Beijing's loans, before Tonga began to lose control of state assets as was happening in Sri Lanka.<br /><br />Chinese loans make up more than 60% of Tonga's total external debt burden.<br /><br />Another focus for Beijing has been the variety of resources available in loosely governed Papua New Guinea, which lays claim to the biggest Chinese debt, nigh on $590 million.<br /><br />New Guinea, Tonga, and Vanuatu all receive military aid from China. Fiji's military leaders in particular have been welcoming of Chinese economic, military and strategic assistance. China's state media Xinhua has a quiet, but impactful bureau in Suva.<br /><br />While the US and its allies have been distracted with conflicts in the Middle East, China stepped up its military activities in the South Pacific. <br /><br />Chinese companies have sought and often secured access to strategic ports and airfields across many regional archipelagos.<br /><br />According to Anne-Marie Brady, a political scientist from Canterbury University, satellite interests are an important aspect to China's surge into the South Pacific.<br /><br />"In 2018, China launched 18 BeiDou-3 satellites into space. Beidou-3 is China's indigenous GPS, it provides missile positioning and timing and enhanced C4ISR capabilities for the Chinese military, as well as navigation services to more than 60 countries along the Belt and Road, including in Oceania. <br /><br />Professor Brady said China's mobile satellite station receiving station vessels regularly dock in Papeete (Tahiti) and Suva (Fiji), as do other quasi-military boats such as the Peace Ark and China's well-equipped polar research vessels.<br /><br />Brady a leading expert on Chinese investment in then pacific said many Pacific leaders now acknowledged China as "the dominant power in the region." <br /><br />"China's strategic and military interests in the South Pacific build on longstanding links and fill the vacuum left by receding US and French power projection in the region, as well as Australia and New Zealand's neglect of key relationships in the region."</div>         <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/harris-faulkner-fox-news-anchor-black-female-cable-news-2018-11">Fox News' Harris Faulkner is the only black woman in cable news with a daily show: 'It's a tremendous amount of responsibility'</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

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