Pacific Island Nation Signs Chinese Security Pact

The Pacific Compact — guaranteed sovereignty, climate migration pathways, economic development partnerships — must be funded at the full A$440-950M/year level. This is the cheapest real estate in strategic space. The US Compact of Free Association shows why it works: a compact backed by referendum, treaty and implementing legislation creates path-dependencies a competitor cannot unwind in a single election cycle — China courted all three COFA states for decades and broke none. Strategic denial via compact is orders of magnitude cheaper than the military alternative (the US would need ~US$100B/year to replicate COFA's coverage). With Chinese police already in at least four Pacific states and a Type-055 live-firing in the Tasman Sea (Feb 2025), the window to lock in Tuvalu, Kiribati and Nauru is closing.