《TAIPEI TIMES》 German envoy to China, ex-Merkel adviser, dies at 54

/ AP, BERLIN

Germany’s new ambassador to China, who was previously a senior adviser to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has died, barely two weeks into the job, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

The ministry announced Jan Hecker’s “sudden death” at the age of 54 in a short statement in the early hours of yesterday, without giving when or where Hecker died, or specifying a cause of death.

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Hecker, who last month became ambassador, was married and had three children, his biography on the ministry’s Web site said.

He presented his credentials on Aug. 24, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Hecker, a former official with the German Ministry of the Interior and then a judge at Germany’s Federal Administrative Court, started work at the German Chancellery in 2015 as the head of a unit coordinating refugee policy.

He became Merkel’s foreign policy adviser in 2017.

“Jan Hecker’s death shocks me deeply,” Merkel said in a statement.

“I am mourning an esteemed long-time adviser with deep humanity and outstanding expertise,” Merkel said, adding that she was “full of gratitude” to have worked with him for years and expressed her condolences to his family.

Hecker had appeared “happy and all right” when he hosted an event about German artist Joseph Beuys at his Beijing home on Friday last week, an attendee said.

Additional reporting by Reuters

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES