 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the city of Beijing and its effect on the city's traffic and productivity.According to the May 18th entry of Li Peng's unpublished diary, "The Critical Moment", in a Committee meeting to decide the next course of action, Chen Xitong was put in charge of carrying out a martial law order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.