overtures
時期が立つと必ず知恵を絞る人が出てきます。中国が前向きな反応をしてくれるように祈るのみです。
overtureはクラッシック音楽でよく知られていますが（「序曲」）、複数で用いられるときには、多くの場合「予備交渉」「提案」という意味になります。（UG）
Japan may 'acknowledge' China's claim to islets to calm tension
Japan is considering plans to calm tensions with China by acknowledging that Beijing is claiming sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands while maintaining its position that no official territorial dispute exists, sources said Tuesday.
The nuanced plan would allow Japan, without changing its long-held position, to offer a small compromise to China, which has called on Tokyo to acknowledge the existence of the dispute. It is uncertain whether China would respond positively to such an overture, according to the sources.
The source of the current rupture in relations is the Japanese government's purchase of three of the islets from a Saitama man despite China's strong calls to rescind the deal. The government says the move was aimed at maintaining the uninhabited islands in a stable manner.
In a meeting with a delegation of Japanese lawmakers and business leaders in Beijing late last month, Jia Qinglin, a senior Communist Party of China official, urged Japan to recognize the existence of the territorial dispute.
"Japan should realize the seriousness of the current situation, squarely face the disputes over the Diaoyu Islands and correct its mistake as soon as possible, so as to avoid further damaging China-Japan ties," the No. 4 man in the party was quoted by China's official Xinhua news agency as saying in the meeting.
Tokyo interpreted his remark as suggesting that the Chinese government has adopted the goal of making Japan acknowledge the existence of a territorial dispute, without altering its position that Japan must rescind its purchase of the islets, the sources said.
