Brussels, 12/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 12 May, Catherine Ashton attended a meeting on EU-China strategic dialogue, in Budapest. The meeting was due to end in the early evening. The Chinese delegation was headed by Dai Bingguo, considered as the head of Beijing's foreign policy. In addition to preparing the forthcoming bilateral summit, the meeting was mainly dedicated to international issues, and especially to the uprising in North Africa and the Arab world. Trade, energy and human rights were also on the agenda. With regard to human rights, the Liberal Group (ALDE) at the European Parliament called on Catherine Ashton to intervene in favour of political dissidents, such as the artist, Ai Weiwei, or the human rights activist, Gao Zhisheng. (H.B./transl.jl)