Mr Lee spotted China's growth potential early

Hong Kong

ONLY one person personally met all five of the top leaders of modern China, and maintained friendly relationships with each of them. This person was also the first head of state to be accorded the privilege of seeing China's terra-cotta army, two years after its discovery in 1974. He also brokered the ice-breaking talks between China and Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province, in a historic event that took place in Singapore in 1993.

China President Xi Jinping called Mr Lee Kuan Yew "an old friend of the Chinese people" in his condolences to the Lee family. Chines…