Australian universities may be faced with an early cancelling of their Confucius Institute partnerships, following the axing of Victorian Belt and Road Initiative deals which exercised newly legislated veto powers. Foreign Minister Marise Payne decision to tear up the BRI agreements have brought forward calls to cancel other deals with the Chinese Communist Party, such as the 99-lease of the Port of Darwin to a Chinese state-owned company and the Confucius Institutes in 13 Australian universities. At least one institute will close this year, with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) saying financial pressures and a reduced budget due to COVID-19 has forced them to discontinue supporting a significant number of activities and projects. “In August last year, a decision was made to discontinue activities at our Chinese Medicine Confucius Institute due to the financial impacts of COVID-19,” an RMIT spokesman told The Epoch Times. Under the Foreign Relations Act, …