Asian leaders could be excused a degree of exasperation over the ongoing Greek mess. China's slowdown and stock-market chaos are worry enough; the last thing the export-dependent region needs is a Europe in chaos. Worse, European leaders seem intent on misreading or ignoring lessons from Asia's own brush with collapse.

Of course, the circumstances in 1997 were quite different. Where Greece is insolvent, Asia then was illiquid. As capital fled, Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea suddenly couldn't pay foreign-currency debts, much of it short-term. Still, there are at least three lessons officials in Athens and Brussels can learn from Asia's post-crisis repairs.

One: The debate over austerity is a distraction. Pundits quarreling over Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's motivations, or whether German Chancellor Angela Merkel has a heart, are missing the real issue: structural reform.