Over the past three decades, the higher education landscape in many Asian countries has witnessed various changes, many of which have resulted from foreign influences and the interactions of local education policy discourse with neo-liberal globalisation, market forces and the demand for a market economy. This article provides nuanced insights into how foreign forces have influenced the practices related to teaching-learning, research and community engagement in three Vietnamese universities. The analysis of university leaders' and academics' perspectives reveals positive changes in university practices as a result of this interaction and learning from foreign partners, including the shift towards practice-based and student-centred teaching, fairer treatment of students, stronger awareness of the value and principles of undertaking research and the closer connection with social demands in teaching and research. The analysis also indicates the ways foreign practices clash with Vietnamese higher education structures, Confucian values and the Communist leadership. The article discusses implications for Vietnamese universities to creatively learn from and localise international practices, while avoiding being colonised by foreign forces.