When a group of Chinese and U.S. experts convened at the Center for American Studies, Fudan University in early January 2002 for the third round of informal strategic dialogue on regional security issues, they were faced with a post-“9-11” world with remarkable changes as well as strong continuities in cross-Pacific and cross-Strait relations. Candid dialogue occurred against a backdrop of major developments in Sino- U.S. relations including a new Republican president in the White House, a major crisis in bilateral relations (the EP-3 reconnaissance plane incident), the unprecedented generous arms sales to Taiwan, a surprisingly quick winding down of the U.S.-led antiterrorist war in Afghanistan, and the official U.S. withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. Fortunately, the meeting was also conducted between U.S. President George W. Bush’s two trips to China (October 2001 and February 2002).