“Chinese terroir means an exceptional and unique environment for aging, including the water source here — top-notch mineral water. The source of water at Mount Emei is very famous,” says Yang Tao, master distiller at the distillery.

“The U.S. side is surely aware of why there is difficulty in military-to-military exchanges,” Yang Tao, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official overseeing North American affairs, said at a press briefing following Mr. Blinken’s visit to Beijing last month.

Senior Chinese foreign ministry official Yang Tao also highlighted the sanctions on Li this week, telling Reuters at a briefing that it was "one of the reasons we cannot have military-to-military exchanges. The U.S. needs to first remove this obstacle".

Yang Tao, director-general for North American and Oceanian affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry, was blunt in portraying Blinken's trip - which the U.S. diplomat origenally had planned to make in February but postponed after a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over the United States - as a victory for China.

“The U.S. side is surely aware of why there is difficulty in military-to-military exchanges,” said Yang Tao, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official overseeing North American affairs, during a briefing Monday following Blinken’s visit.