As witnessed in recent island conflicts, the vestiges of the Cold War remains unresolved throughout Asia. And the legacy of Japanese invasions of Korea and China from the 13th century onward has led to deep-seated animosities and resentments among Koreans and Chinese.

Wokou (Japanese pirates) and later state-sanctioned invasions of Korea and China by the Japanese has had deleterious and very destructive results throughout Korean and Chinese history.

Given that the Japanese still do not acknowledge the depths of their depravity during World War II, there has not been a real effort on all sides for international dialogue and reconciliation.

Without such dialogue and reconciliation that would come about by testimony, research, and soul-searching, there can not be the development of trust and goodwill that will sustain regional prosperity and true interdependence.

And without interdependence, there will always be the possibility of hostility and war when there are issues of economic, political, military, and territorial disputes. Europe, to its credit, had taken steps toward dialogue and reconciliation. Unfortunately, Asia still has not done so.

Today, in spite of simmering and flashing longstanding hostilities and animosities, both China and Japan have become significant trading partners with one another.

In 2011, over $350 billion dollars of trade occurred between China and Japan, and the pace continued to grow until the more recent spats over the disputed islands.

Since then, there has been a sharp decline in reciprocal trade, and the Japanese are quickly diverting their investments elsewhere.

Part of the increase in hostilities comes from the actions precipitated by nationalist politicians such as former Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara.

His jingoistic efforts to buy the islands from private Japanese owners made the impression that the Japanese were officially taking over the territories.

In lock step, it forced Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and the Japanese central government to buy the islands outright. This also led to very strong feelings among the Chinese that the longstanding status quo prior to this escalation was now being changed to outright possession and ownership.

Since then, the tensions that were already there since the 1969 discovery of major resources underneath the islands have escalated to their present condition. The situation is now very unstable and increasingly involving third parties such as the US, and, given China's perceived rise as a military and economic power, increasing tensions between China and other Asian nations.

It is now clear that these Asian nations believe that a resurgent China has become nationalistic, and may become expansionist as China claims rights of ownership that are contested by these other Asian nations. These nations are seeking protection through working in tandem with the US.

In some cases, such as between Japan and the Philippines, we also see military cooperation between Asian nations that believe they are mutually threatened by China. China, in turn, increasingly begins to perceive that the US is orchestrating a policy of containment.

When US President Barack Obama, during the presidential debates, declared China first as an adversary and second as a potential partner, this also has led some Chinese officials to feel a hardening of US attitudes against China.

So what are we to do in this current crisis? Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's suggestion of setting aside territorial disputes and jointly exploiting and developing these regions is eminently sensible and pragmatic.

In the meantime, there is other work to be done. Every nation in Asia will benefit from increasing trade and economic ties. Rather than throttle Asia's rise and progress by returning to the cave of fear and ignorance, let's practically set aside our disputes, and jointly develop the territories.

Later generations, armed with knowledge from discussions of dialogue and reconciliation, tempered by growing economic and cultural interdependence, can lead a more equitable and robust settlement of these disputes.

The author is the former director of the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Maryland. He is currently Senior Editor of Asian Americans Today at Rowman and Littlefield, the principal of AsiaPacific Arc, a research firm located in Washington, DC. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn