The BBC reported that the Chinese army’s violent suppressing of the Tiananmen Square protests of June 1989 resulted in at least 10,000 deaths, according to British documents that have just been made public. This number was supplied by then British ambassador to China Alan Donald, in a secret diplomatic cable. Donald said his source was a friend who was “a member of the State Council”. Previously, the estimated death toll has ranged from several hundred to over 1,000, according to the BBC. At the end of June 1989, China said in a statement that 200 civilians and several dozen security officials were killed in Beijing after the “counter-revolutionary riots” were quashed on June 4.