“It is with deep sadness and dismay that we learned of the sudden death of the German Ambassador to China,” the Federal Foreign Office said in a brief statement on its website.
The circumstances surrounding the diplomat’s abrupt death have not been released yet. Hecker seemed “happy and all right” during an event he hosted at his Beijing home last Friday, one of the guests told Reuters.
“Our thoughts at this moment are with his family and the people who were close to him,” the office added, declining to provide further comments.
Hecker’s credentials were formally accepted by Chinese authorities only two weeks ago, on August 24. While introducing their 14th ambassador to China, the German embassy said his main goal would be to ensure the “long-term and stable development of Germany-China relations… in the interests of the people of both countries.”
