Australia has made the sudden announcement of a defence agreement with Tuvalu
From what I understand the deal acts similarly to the Compacts of Free Association between the US and its former Mandates in Micronesia, Palau and the Marshal Islands. In exchange Australia will provide Tuvalu with Australian citizenship and residency rights to evacuate and relocate into Australia, but with the deal structured to throttle applications at 280 persons annually rather than all 11,000 Tuvaluans in a year.
So for the price of one single plane load of people a year Australia has purchased military control over Tuvalu. Thats quite the coup in terms of strategic access, but more importantly access denial against China.
This comes amid the final preparations of a defence treaty with the Papuan New Guineans for Australian military access and defacto control of our former colony alongside the Americans who signed basing access earlier this year, primarily for Manus Island with its naval and air facilities.
I note that in between Papua and Tuvalu is Nauru, a former colony which remains one in all but name. With a precedent in Tuvalu, Nauru could be expected to be forced into an official recognition of reality within coming months.
The end result of this is a solid line of exclusive strategic access and political allies along the North-South axis between Japan and Australia, and the West Pac to East Pac axis of resupply to Australia from the USA. This grouping includes Japan and Korea; Taiwan; the Phillipines following the American and now Japanese basing agreements; the American military colonies in the Marianas, Guam, Marshall Islands, Palau, and Micronesia; the reestablished Australian colonies in Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu and Nauru; New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna under France; Australia proper; New Zealand and the New Zealand administered crown colonies of Cook Islands, Tokelau and Niue.
