(VOVworld) – American Professor Edward Miller of Dartmouth University says Vietnam has strong international support for its protest of China’s illegal placement of oil rig Haiyang 981 in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

American Professor Edward Miller of Dartmouth University

Miller, a historian of American foreign relations and modern Vietnam, said looking at China’s acts in the East Sea and East China Sea, many have recognized that Beijing is pursuing an aggressive expansionism. Vietnam should take advantage of the international support in dealing with the situation. Miller noted that the oil rig deployment is a political ploy and is not for a purely economic purpose. Beijing is using its overwhelming military strength to change the current balance in the East Sea. But the price China must pay is its international prestige. Miller says the US is paying special attention to free maritime navigation and trade in the East Sea and is unhappy about China’s recent actions there.