With the crisis surrounding Pyongyang escalating, Washington’s only carrier based outside America, the USS Ronald Reagan conducted what have been described as “routine” military drills in the South China Sea under the vigilant eye of China. The Chinese foreign ministry said that Beijing had approved the warship’s port call and urged all parties to the Korean peninsula dispute to exercise restraint, and avoid provocation and escalating tensions. President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday that he told Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that diplomatic efforts to resolve tensions with North Korea are pointless and added that “we’ll do what has to be done!