I understand what people mean when they are calling China 'young.' My comment was a bit of a snarky commentary on how China seems to pull out this "we're a 3000-year-old country" line whenever someone criticizes them. Such a response is of laughable logic since the government -- which is what most people are criticizing -- is far younger than 3000 years.

(I keep saying 3000 years, because I'm pretty sure the number I've seen used on multiple occasions is 3000, not 5000. I'm not sure from what point in time -- other than the obvious '3000 years' -- they are calling the start of this period to which they are referring, though.)