In 2007, JCIE launched a study and dialogue project aimed at developing a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics of the China-Japan-US trilateral relationship, identifying the issues central to managing stable and cooperative relations, and examining ways of promoting more meaningful cooperation on key challenges. The project brought together a multi-country team of leading experts to undertake a systematic, in-depth analysis of the dynamics of the trilateral relationship. It was designed to encourage top policymakers in all three countries to gain a deeper understanding of this key relationship and a greater commitment to trilateral cooperation.

One senior participant and three emerging intellectual leaders were selected from each country and the team members analyzed a wide range of topics—including the emergence of regional community, financial cooperation, and tensions in the Taiwan Straits—in the context of the trilateral relationship. The project leaders held a series of planning meetings throughout the spring of 2007, and the first paper writers
workshop was convened in Tokyo on October 14–16, 2007. A second workshop took place in Beijing on June 29 and 30, 2008. The participants met for a third and final workshop in Honolulu on March 12–13, 2009. The findings from the project were published in 2010 in English and Japanese as Getting the Triangle Straight: Managing China-Japan-US Relations.