Zhao Ziyang
On the night of May 16, the five members of the Politburo's Standing Committee, Zhao Ziyang, Li Peng, Qiao Shi, Hu Qili and Yao Yilin, along with President Yang Shangkun, Bo Yibo, the deputy director of the Central Advisory Commission, held an emergency meeting and agreed to (1) solicit the views of Deng Xiaoping and (2) have Zhao Ziyang negotiate with the hunger-striking students. On May 17, the five Standing Committee members visited Deng's residence, where Deng made clear that no more concessions could be made to the students and that the time had come to call in the military to impose martial law. The Standing Committee members agreed to convene in the evening to discuss how to implement martial law. That night, the five Standing Committee members could not agree on whether to impose martial law, with Li Peng and Yao Yilin in support, Zhao Ziyang and Hu Qili in opposition and Qiao Shi abstaining. Zhao offered to resign as Party General Secretary, but was dissuaded by Yang and asked for three days of sick leave. Subsequently, Zhao Ziyang ceased to have political influence.