The legislative proposal comes just as Australian universities and China’s party-system are both rushing into more of these deals, each side for different reasons but with far-reaching implications for the institutional autonomy and worldview of Australian higher education. Through them, Chinese students complete joint degrees, Australian degrees taught entirely in China, or programs that begin in China and finish on an Australian campus. At the same time, Beijing has its own TNE policy system, which it calls ‘Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools’. By embedding themselves in China’s higher education system, the leadership and governance structures of Australian universities become socialised into Chinese policy norms and values. This potentially reshapes outlooks in ways that diverge from Australia’s democratic principles and foreign policy settings, including Australia’s policy on Taiwan.