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Nov
Manila, Nov 5 (IANS) The growing tensions in the South China Sea remained a key issue at the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) and related engagements held in the Philippines, a report has stated. It noted that Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles last week said that China’s military expansion was creating a “condition of pressure” across Southeast Asia, amid a dispute between Beijing and Manila over China’s participation in the ASEAN defence summit in Cebu, Philippines. Addressing the media on the sidelines of ADMM-Plus, Marles termed China’s military build-up the largest conventional military expansion…