My goal was to understand his take on Sino-US relations, even though, at this writing, North Korea’s ally, Beijing, won’t officially be attending the Korean summit. “I suppose [the choice of Singapore] shows that we are friends with them [North Korea and the US] and they believe we can do a good job of it,” said Lee.

“And it’s politically acceptable to them to be here … [But] they have a very difficult task. This summit is taking place at not very long notice, and without … extensive preparation or contact between the two sides. It is not easy to make a sudden breakthrough, but it is the first step towards both sides resuming a dialogue.”

How Singapore’s ‘smart power’ can inspire China-US relations in the run-up to the Trump-Kim summit.

Diplomatically, Singapore has tried hard to fashion a happy face for all, far and near, not least the US and China. Some might like to see China collapse; others would like to see the US flop. Singapore is not a member of either group. The reason: it practises “smart power”.

Lee is happy the leaders of the US and North Korea are taking this giant step. He believes binary thinking in international relations is a double-edged sword. While it simplifies foreign policy formulation, the “they bad/we good” approach is not productive.

Lee says that “It is up to you [the US] how you want to see the world. The question is what conclusion you will reach. Do you conclude that the Chinese have to be like you, in order to be your friend? Or do you conclude that they do not have to be like you, yet you can still do business with them?

“We do hope that you can come to the second conclusion, because it is not necessary for you to be enemies just because you are different from them. They do not think less of you just because you do not have a Communist Party of the United States.”

Developing nations look at wealthy Singapore, despite its Lilliputian size, and wonder, “why not us?” Its glittering success has all but revised economic development textbooks, inspiring other nations to view it – or Brobdingnagian China – as a model. By contrast, the American way is not as much in fashion.

“You [Americans] do feel that you have an idea how the rest of the world should be run,” Lee said. “That is very worrying, because if you take a negative attitude to [Beijing] there will be a reaction. They are already suspicious of you, that you intend to frustrate their ambitions to greatness … The Chinese do not feel they should be sat upon in judgment.”

Lee quickly adds: “The Chinese model is not our solution either, and we have to feel our way forward too because I don’t think our model automatically works [that well] as you move forward.”