At midnight, April 18, more than 1,000 students from Peking University walked off campus in protest; students from Renmin University, Tsinghua University, and other schools joined in along the way. A white silk banner 10 meters long and 4 meters wide was displayed before the Peking University protesters. The words "The Soul of China" and "Always Remember Comrade Yaobang" were written at the top; it was signed "A portion of the teachers, students, and alumni of Peking University". The students shouted slogans such as "Long Live Democracy", "Long Live Freedom", and "Down with Bureaucracy" all the way to Tian'anmen Square.
At about 4:30am, the demonstrators entered Tian'anmen Square and hung the banner reading "The Soul of China" at the Monument to the People's Heroes. In the morning, hundreds of students did a sit-in on the front steps of the Great Hall of the People. They demanded that leaders from the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee or higher come forward to meet them. The students put forth their agenda — the Seven Demands:
- Re-evaluate Comrade Hu Yaobang's merits and demerits; affirm his views on democracy, freedom, opening up, and harmony.
- Completely repudiate the Anti-Spiritual Pollution campaign and the Oppose Bourgeois Liberalization campaign; rehabilitate intellectuals who have been wronged.
- Disclose the annual salaries and all forms of income of state leaders and their family members to the people; oppose corrupt officials.
- Allow privately-run newspapers, lift newspaper bans, and implement freedom of speech.
- Increase education funding and improve the treatment of intellectuals.
- Abolish the Ten Articles against demonstrations formulated by the Beijing Municipal Government.
- Require government leaders to publicly review government mistakes before the entire populace; change some leadership positions to be re-elected through democratic means.
The students also asked the state media to report on the Seven Demands, and asked that the government respond publicly. Afterwards, Zheng Youmei, Director of the State Bureau for Letters and Calls, welcomed Guo Haifeng and Wang Dan, representatives of Peking University students, into the Great Hall of the People and accepted the petition, saying that it would be handed over to higher-level leaders. The students continued to sit in, waiting for a response. At 5:30pm on April 18, NPC Standing Committee Member Liu Yandong and NPC Deputies Tao Xiping and Song Shixiong met with Guo Haifeng and others; Guo Haifeng submitted the petition to them again.
On that day, Li Peng recorded in his diary how the Central Committee Politburo Standing Committee went to Zhao Ziyang's office to discuss the student actions. Li proposed that the student mourning activities should be guided and stopped to avoid social unrest. But Zhao responded, "As long as the students don't smash and break things or loot, we shouldn't pay it any mind, so as not to intensify the contradictions." After that point, Li Peng and Zhao Ziyang diverged in their attitudes toward the student demonstrations.
References: Zhang Wanshu, "The Big Bang of History: A Complete Record of the June 4th Incident"; "The Critical Moment – Li Peng Diaries"; Yang Jisheng, "Political Struggles During the Age of Reform in China"; "The Tiananmen Papers"
