BEIJING, Sept. 6 (Reuters) – German Ambassador to China Jan Hecker has died, just two weeks into the job, the European nation’s foreign office said on Monday.
Hecker, 54, foreign policy adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel, had just taken office on August 24, the embassy in the Chinese capital reported in a message to his Wechat account on the networks social.
The cause of death has not yet been confirmed.
“It is with deep sadness and dismay that we learn of the sudden death of the German ambassador to China,” the German Foreign Ministry said on its website.
An embassy spokesman declined further comment on Reuters.
Hecker had appeared “happy and well” when he organized an event about German artist Joseph Beuys at his Beijing home last Friday, a guest at the event said.
Yew Lun Tian Reports; Edited by Christian Schmollinger and Clarence Fernandez
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