In May 2012, former West German Chancellor Schmidt (in office from 1974 to 1982) visited Lee Kuan Yew. The two of them were good friends and talked about various questions over the course of three days

In May 2012, former West German Chancellor Schmidt (in office from 1974 to 1982) visited Lee Kuan Yew. The two of them were good friends and talked about various issues over the course of three days.

Schmidt asked Lee Kuan Yew who was the greatest leader of his time? Lee Kuan Yew thought it was Deng Xiaoping.

Schmidt agreed that Deng Xiaoping was a brilliant leader, saying, "I think deng xiaoping is the greatest of all the people I know of my time." After that, the two of them started talking about Deng Xiaoping.

Lee Kuan Yew said: "He is not more than five feet tall, but he is a leader with extraordinary courage. ”

Schmidt: "He still can't leave his hand." ”

Lee Kuan Yew: "Yes, he is. But I didn't see him suffering from emphysema. ”

Schmidt: "There are also spittoons, which can be a yard away from him, but he still uses them, and they are in a hundred shots." ”

Lee Kuan Yew spoke of meeting with Deng Xiaoping in November 1978 about China's funding of guerrillas in Southeast Asia, saying it was a threat to Southeast Asian countries. Lee Kuan Yew wanted China to stop all this, and Deng Xiaoping immediately agreed. In less than a year, all this stopped, which made Lee Kuan Yew very impressed.

Both Lee Kuan Yew and Schmidt thought Deng Xiaoping was willing to learn.

Lee Kuan Yew said: "And he is willing to keep learning. ”

Schmidt: "He's constantly learning, that's right. ”

Lee Kuan Yew said: "When he visited Singapore that year, he saw a small island with no natural resources thriving, with abundant supplies and people having money in their pockets. He observed, asked questions in depth, and then summed up a truth himself: Singapore opened up to the outside world to attract foreign investment, which in turn brought technology, management skills and markets into it. After returning to China, he followed the Singapore model to set up six special economic zones, and then successfully and gradually opened the road to China's reform and opening up. Zhu Rongji then brought China into the World Trade Organization, opening the door for all of China to face the world. This saved China. ”

Schmidt said soviet leaders could not understand the concept of reform and opening up.

Lee Kuan Yew said that the Soviet leaders were convinced of the planned economy and could not accept new thinking; Deng Xiaoping knew that China was not successful because it blindly studied the Soviet model; and when Deng Xiaoping saw Singapore, he said: "Ah, this is the successful model!" ”

Afterwards they talked about Deng Xiaoping's experience studying in France, which they believed had given him an understanding of the free market and promoted his openness of thought.

Lee Kuan Yew recalled saying to Deng Xiaoping: "China is absolutely capable of surpassing Singapore." We are the descendants of peasants and landless laborers in southern China, and in China you have a large number of descendants of scholars, scholars, scientists and researchers. ”

Excerpt from "Lee Kuan Yew's View of the World"