Ahead of the 55th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), scheduled to take place August 30 to September 4 in Palau, Pacific Island leaders failed to reach consensus on a joint statement criticizing China’s submarine-based ballistic missile testing in the Pacific. This maritime gateway east of Taiwan leads directly into the exclusive economic zones that the forum seeks to protect and deserves greater attention from Pacific Island states. By increasing the frequency and persistence of deployments along Taiwan’s Pacific coast, Beijing appears to be seeking to normalize a sustained Chinese maritime security presence in the Blue Pacific waters. For Pacific Island countries, this expanding presence should not be viewed simply as an extension of cross-strait tensions. The Blue Pacific is a Pacific-led regional identity, not a corridor encompassing Taiwan’s east coast, and the argument here is not to redefine that identity.