As the article explains, it's not completely up to Musk. China is the second largest market for Tesla, and Tesla's highest-volume car assembly plant is Gigafactory Shanghai in China (China is 30% of Tesla's total revenue).
If a Tesla-SpaceX merger is in the plans, China can prevent it unless Tesla gives up the Chinese market, half its size, and becomes a regional car manufacturer.
As the article explains, it's not completely up to Musk. China is the second largest market for Tesla, and Tesla's highest-volume car assembly plant is Gigafactory Shanghai in China (China is 30% of Tesla's total revenue).
If a Tesla-SpaceX merger is in the plans, China can prevent it unless Tesla gives up the Chinese market, half its size, and becomes a regional car manufacturer.