Japan's top military official last week said a "crisis management" system was needed as soon as possible to avoid conflict over competing claims for several atolls and small islands in the East China Sea.

China and Japan, almost needless to say, have had a stormy relationship over the years. They've fought several wars and the legacy of Japan's long history of occupying parts of China continues to sting today. Considering China is the world's second largest economy and Japan the third largest economy, any confrontation would prove destabilizing to world financial interest.

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Military aircraft and patrol ships from each nation has shadowed the other's on a continuing basis. Aircraft and ships have been in such close proximity that fears abound that an accidental incident, collision or event could escalate quickly into a larger confrontation.

With that scenario as background, Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano, head of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces joint Staff, said a hot line, or direct link between Chinese and Japanese military commands to avoid the risk of war.

A maritime crisis management system "would allow communication between people at the scene," Kawano told Reuters. "That's significant. Enabling such communication would be a great step forward in avoiding an unexpected situation. We have been pushing for an early implementation all along."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed last month with Chinese President Xi Jinping to begin working on the crisis management mechanism to provide direct links between navy and air force commands. This re-starts talks that stopped when Japan nationalized three disputed islands in September 2012.

Kawano said he didm;t know when the military hot lone would come to pass. "Only when political ties are rebuilt, exchanges between the militaries become possible," he told Reuters.

Japan isn't the only nation sparring with China over ocean island. Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Brunei also have rival claims to the possibly energy-rich South China Sea. Disputed islands also straddle one of the world's most traveled sea routes for international trade.

Tagsdisputed islands, miitary, China-Japan relations, Sino-Japan dispute