A former leading official of China's Communist Party has urged the Chinese government to overturn its assessment of the pro-democracy protests in Beijing in 1989.

In a BBC interview, Bao Tong, who was an adviser to the Chinese prime minister at the time, Zhao Ziyang, said he disagreed with the government's view that the demonstrations represented a counter-revolutionary rebellion.

Mr Bao also said he was convinced multi-party democracy would prevail in China.

Correspondents say Mr Bao, who served seven years in prison after being arrested in 1989 for supporting the protests, has much more influence in China than recently released famous dissidents such as Wang Dan and Wei Jingsheng.