An article in China's official Global Times (August 28) said the Viettel Group, Vietnam's largest mobile telecom operator, has reportedly excluded China's  Huawei from its 5G rollout. It warned 'if Vietnam bans Huawei because of geopolitical considerations, the Vietnamese economy will be hit harder by such action than the Chinese one'. Describing Vietnam as possibly the biggest winner from the shift in supply chains caused by the trade war between China and the US, it said the reorganization of the Asian industrial chain provides Vietnam with an opportunity to renew its role as an increasingly important import source for the US. According to data from Vietnam Briefing, Vietnam's exports to the US rose 28.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019. It said with a population of only 95 million, Vietnam cannot survive without the Asian supply chain.  If Vietnam wants to make itself a processing base for the US, the country needs the support of Chinese suppliers. It's impossible to cut the industrial, capital and technology links between China and Vietnam.  It questioned a Bloomberg report that Viettel insisted its decision not to use Huawei equipment was a technical one and not tied to geopolitical considerations and said it will take more time to say if this statement is credible, but the US is an important export destination for Vietnam and it's difficult for Vietnam to remain unaffected by Washington's hostility toward Huawei. It bluntly warned that 'If Vietnam excluded Huawei from its 5G rollout because of geopolitical considerations, it will be seen as a signal that Vietnam is choosing sides between China and the US. Such actions will hit its industrial cooperation with China. Frankly speaking, Vietnam can't afford that. The country will lose the opportunity offered by the China-US trade war.'