Merkel Confidant Dies Days After Becoming China Ambassador
Angela Merkel and Jan Hecker.
Photographer: Michele Tantussi/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
Jan Hecker, a close confidant of Chancellor Angela Merkel, has died only days after assuming his role in Beijing as German ambassador to China.
“I mourn for a highly regarded long-time adviser, with a deep humanity and extraordinary competence,” Merkel said in an emailed statement Monday in Berlin. “Jan Hecker’s death deeply shocks me,” she added. “I think of our work together with great gratitude and am happy to have been so closely associated with him for years.”