Last month, Mark Kitto, a British businessman who built (and subsequently lost) an empire of English-language magazines in China, wrote a 4,000 word article for the UK's Prospect magazine explaining why, after 26 years, he was finally leaving China.

It was a strongly worded article, titled simply "You'll never be Chinese", and railing against the country's corruption and immorality. Kitto had clearly touched a nerve — the article was soon passed around widely amongst China's big expat community, with both strong criticism and support. The article was apparently such a huge hit for Prospect that they had to buy new servers.