Du Wei
THE China’s Ambassador to Israel, Du Wei, was found dead in his Tel Aviv apartment in Herzlija on Sunday, an Israeli Police spokesman stated but did not comment on the cause of the death.
Also, there has been no comment on the Ambassador’s death from the Chinese embassy in Israel or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing. However, Police are reportedly investigating the circumstances of the death of 58-year-old Du Wei.
Before taking up the post in Israel, Du Wei had been China’s ambassador to Ukraine.
Though, speculations from some local media suggests he died in his sleep of natural causes, however, his death comes less than a week after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Jerusalem, and bitterly criticized China’s actions during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as calling on Israeli leaders to stop signing major infrastructure and communications deals with Chinese companies.
Ambassador Du assumed his current role in Israel in February 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic was sweeping across the globe. He wrote in an article in the Jerusalem Post in mid-March that he immediately had to enter two weeks of mandatory self-quarantine on his arrival. Ambassador Du was married with one son.
(Source: AssociatedPress, Reuters, dpa)