Wan Li
On May 12, Wan Li left on a scheduled working visit to Canada and the United States. On May 13, the protests entered its hunger strike stage. Some of the protesters planned a demonstration to welcome him back to Beijing in late May. Moreover, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, which Wan chaired, had the constitutional power to convene the National People's Congress in full session. Such an extraordinary session of the body was, legally speaking, the top authority of the state, and was seen by some scholars and political insiders as a constitutionally-sanctioned way to break the deadlock. Moreover, 57 members of the Standing Committee of the NPC had petitioned for a special convening of the body to resolve the Tiananmen crisis. On May 21, Deng met with then Shanghai party chief Jiang Zemin. In addition to hinting that Jiang was slated to "take on a bigger role" in the days ahead, Deng asked Jiang to discuss the ongoing situation with Wan Li to ensure the latter's support for the decision to crack down.