US push for Taiwan WHO observer status seen falling flat in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asian nations already straining from the United States-China tug of war for regional influence are likely to avoid supporting Washington’s drive for Taiwan to be granted observer status for a top-level meeting of the World Health Organisation, analysts have said.

Even though the leaders of these countries understand the “moral and logical” arguments for allowing Taiwanese delegates to attend the annual meeting on May 18 – which will be live-streamed because of the coronavirus pandemic – they are unlikely to offer their support because of the significant sway China holds over their economies, the diplomatic observers said.

In lobbying internationally for Taiwan, representatives of US President Donald Trump’s administration are seen as not only reaching out to traditional allies – the likes of Australia and New Zealand already back Taiwan’s inclusion – but also to partners in places like Southeast Asia.

“This is about basically choosing sides and [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations] would probably not want to stick their necks out … for the issue of Taiwan that Chinese consider to be one of their core interests,” said Hoo Tiang Boon, a professor at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies who studies cross-straits relations and Chinese foreign policy.