Chen Xitong
On May 13, anticipating the arrival of Gorbachev for the 1989 Sino-Soviet Summit, students began a hunger strike. Zhao Ziyang appointed Chen Xitong and Li Ximing as part of a delegation to meet with the students at Tiananmen. Students accused Chen of living too extravagant a lifestyle, to which he responded, “We have made some mistakes.” Chen Xitong and Li Ximing even offered to disclose their assets as a way to calm protesters and absolve themselves of corruption charges. However, they were not able to reach any meaningful agreement with students concerning any of the matters raised. On May 18 students met with Li Peng to discuss conditions for vacating the square. In this meeting, Chen Xitong noted the hassle the protest had caused the city of Beijing and its effect on the city's traffic and productivity. According to the May 18th entry of Li Peng's unpublished diary, "The Critical Moment", in a Committee meeting to decide the next course of action, Chen Xitong was put in charge of carrying out a martial law order with assistance from a military general. On May 20, martial law was effected with an order banning protests and strikes signed by Chen Xitong. This again exacerbated the crisis as more people showed up to support the students in reaction to the announcement and prevented soldiers from carrying out the order to clear the square.