AUSTRALIA secured a “groundbreaking” pact with the Pacific archipelago of Tuvalu today, forging exclusive military ties — but an emigration clause underlined fears climate change spells doom for the low-lying islands.

At a meeting of Pacific leaders in the Cook Islands, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joined Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano to announce the “Falepili Union,” which pledges Australia to provide military assistance to Tuvalu if asked, and requires Tuvalu to secure Australian agreement to any “security” arrangements made with any third country.

Mr Albanese was on his way home from a trip to China, seen as a bid to repair relations that had worsened under his neoconservative predecessor Scott Morrison.

But the Pacific deal is likely to be seen in Beijing as part of the US-led military encirclement designed to intimidate it, with Australia a member of two US-led blocs China regards as a threat — the nuclear submarine alliance Aukus, which also includes Britain, and the Quad, an arrangement with the US, India and Japan.

Asked if the treaty made provision for stationing Australian troops in Tuvalu, Mr Albanese hedged, saying that it would “engage constructively” and “Australia will be there” if Tuvalu needs any military assistance.

Western press reports focused initially on a “lifeline” clause by which 280 residents of Tuvalu, which has a population of just 11,000, will be granted special visas to move to Australia each year.

“We believe the people of Tuvalu deserve the choice to live, study and work elsewhere, as climate change impacts worsen,” Mr Albanese said.

Two of Tuvalu’s nine atolls have already vanished under rising sea levels.

Mr Natano warned last month the entire country was likely to “disappear off the face of the Earth” if current trends are not halted, while scientists have predicted it will be uninhabitable by 2050 and gone by 2080. The treaty earmarks some funds for land reclamation around the capital.

Despite its small size, Tuvalu remains a strategic outpost for Western power in the Pacific. The island nation retains Britain’s King Charles III as head of state, as does Australia, and continues to recognise Taiwan’s government as the legitimate government of China.