Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer is warning of the dangers of escalating the tension between Tokyo and Beijing over the Senkaku Islands.
Speaking at a symposium Wednesday in Tokyo, Schieffer said territorial issues in Asia, including the Senkaku dispute, could be "tinderboxes that can be lit quickly."
"What we don't want to have is a situation in which emotion drives people toward a disastrous result," he said. "When there is calm (due to a healthy U.S.-Japan alliance), people can then talk about how they are going to resolve things in a peaceful manner."