Hundreds of college students assembled in Taipei last night to mark the 22nd anniversary of China’s Tiananmen Square Massacre, joining the candlelit vigils held in Hong Kong and Macau to honor the victims of the bloody crackdown and call for a spotlight on Chinese rights abuses.

Speaking at the event at Liberty Square, Wang Dan (王丹), a student leader of the 1989 pro-democracy movement, said the problems facing China today, including corruption, high unemployment, unequal distribution of wealth and moral failings, were a result of the crackdown on the movement.

“The crackdown snuffed out an opportunity” for China to peacefully transform into a democracy, he said.