China protects gold haul for nation (8)
I believe the answer is:
portugal
'nation' is the definition.
(Portugal is an example)
'china protects gold haul' is the wordplay.
'china' becomes 'pal' (I've seen this before**).
'protects' indicates putting letters inside.
'gold' becomes 'or' ('or' is the heraldic name for gold).
'haul' becomes 'tug' (I've seen this before).
'or'+'tug'='ortug'
'pal' going around 'ortug' is 'PORTUGAL'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for portugal that I've seen before include "Madeira part of it" , "Country formerly ruled by Antonio de Oliveira Salazar" , "EU member state" , "Its capital is Lisbon" , "in E" .)