The World Health Assembly, which has been trimmed from the usual three weeks to just two days, Monday and Tuesday, is expected to focus almost solely on Covid-19, which in a matter of months has killed more than 310,000 globally, and infected nearly 4.7 million.
Despite the tensions, countries hope to adopt by consensus a resolution urging a joint response to the pandemic.
While diplomats have agreed in principle on the draft resolution, observers voiced concerns that in the current politicised atmosphere, some countries might still choose to break the consensus next week.
And Washington is also leading a number of countries in demanding that the WHO end its exclusion of Taiwan -- considered by Beijing to be part of its territory -- and allow it to access next week's assembly as an observer.
The United States, which will be represented during the assembly by Health Secretary Alex Azar, is meanwhile not among the countries who are asking the WHA to make a call on the issue of Taiwan's participation.
