Why do you have to be 18 years old to join the party?

Why does the Party Constitution stipulate that applicants must be at least 18 years old? When did this provision begin? The following is an answer to the above two questions based on the history of the Party and the development of the Party Constitution.

In the early days of the founding of the party, various rules and regulations were still in the initial stage, the standards for party members were still relatively general, and there was no clear stipulation on the age of party members. In June 1927, the five party constitutions stipulated that "party members must be over 18 years old, and those who are within 20 years old and wish to join the party must pass through the Youth League". This is the first time that the party constitution has clearly stipulated the age of those who join the party. This provision was not implemented for long. A year later, the six party constitutions abolished this provision. In June 1945, the Seventh Party Constitution re-stipulated the age of party members, that is, "those who have reached the age of 18 can only be accepted as party members". On May 14, 1945, in the report on the revision of the Party Constitution made by the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, this provision was explained: "A person generally has to be 18 years old before he can have his own relatively certain political judgment. power". For young people who have met the conditions for joining the party but are under the age of 18, if the party organization believes that "there will be losses if they do not accept the party", they can "specially accept them as alternate party members", but they must be 18 years old., Can become a full party member. Since then, 18 years of age has been used as the minimum age limit for party membership and has been used by successive party constitutions.

In the revolutionary war years, Chen Pixian, Xiao Hua and several other famous "red kids" were under 18 years old when they joined the party. Chen Pixian joined the Communist Youth League of China at the age of 13 and was only 15 when he became a member of the Communist Party of China. Xiao Hua joined the Chinese Communist Youth League at the age of 12 and was transferred to the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in March 1930. In July, Xiao Hua was only 14 years old when he joined the Communist Party of China. Although they are young, their communist ideological consciousness and revolutionary struggle level are not low. Chen Pixian was engaged in the founding of the Communist Youth League in his hometown of Shanghang County, Fujian Province at the age of 13. At the age of 18, he became the Secretary of the Central County Party Committee of the Communist Youth League in Fujian and Jiangxi, and at the age of 19, he became the Secretary of the Communist Youth League in southern Jiangxi. At the age of 13, Xiao Hua served as secretary of the Xingguo County Party Committee of the Communist Party of China. At the age of 17, he was appointed as the political commissar of the "International Division of the Communist Party of China". His organizational skills were praised by Mao Zedong.

After the founding of New China, according to the Constitution, citizens over the age of 18 are adults. Only after the age of 18 can a person have a relatively stable world outlook, outlook on life, values and political judgment ability, be more mature in ideology and politics, and be able to determine his political beliefs, lifelong goals and aspirations. The party constitution stipulates that those who join the party must be at least 18 years old, which is not only in line with the legal provisions of the constitution for adults, but also a concrete embodiment of the party's promotion of the standard of Party members and the quality of Party members.

(From the 19th issue of "Sichuan Party Building" in 2017)

Source: Communist Party Network