China’s status as the birthplace of the coronavirus pandemic could turn the public health crisis into a disaster for “Belt and Road,” the international infrastructure initiative at the center of the communist power’s foreign policy strategy.

“This pandemic is reminding us that connectivity doesn’t just carry good and nice things but also illicit and deadly things,” Jonathan Hillman, a senior Asia analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Washington Examiner. “The Belt and Road was already shrinking and running into problems in certain places. And I think this is really going to put the brakes on it.”