Gold in vase turned up in Pacific island (5)
I believe the answer is:
nauru
'pacific island' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'gold in vase turned up' is the wordplay.
'gold' becomes 'au' (Au is the chemical symbol for gold).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'vase' becomes 'urn' (urn is a kind of vase).
'turned up' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'urn' in reverse letter order is 'nru'.
'au' inserted into 'nru' is 'NAURU'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for nauru that I've seen before include "Pacific coral island republic, once rich in phosphates" , "[OCEANIA] location" , "Small Pacific republic" , "Smallest Pacific state" , "little nation" .)