Xi Jinping pays tribute to ‘old friend of the Chinese people’, Lee Kuan Yew
US President Barack Obama described Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew as “a giant of history” as tributes poured in from world leaders for the city state’s former ruler.
China’s President Xi Jinping praised Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew as an “old friend of the Chinese people” following his death on Monday, while US President Barack Obama described Singapore’s founding Prime Minister as “a giant of history”.
Xi said Lee, who was ethnically Chinese, was “widely respected by the international community as a strategist and a statesman” and expressed “sincere condolences” to his relatives.
Lee met China’s leaders multiple times and his model of political control allied to economic growth was seen as an example to China’s Communist party as it embarked on reforms. Four of the seven members of the politburo standing committee have sent their individual condolences - Xi, premier Li Keqiang, National People’s Congress chairman Zhang Dejiang and vice premier Zhang Gaoli.
Lee died early on Monday morning after nearly a month in hospital.
“He was a true giant of history who will be remembered for generations to come as the father of modern Singapore and as one of the great strategists of Asian affairs,” Obama said.
