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. “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 Assistant Professor at RSIS who studies cross-straits relations and Chinese foreign policy.