Re: Well, that does it for Western companies investing in China
The parent company only has a 49% ownership in the Chinese subsidiary - they sold 51% as explained in the article. That means they cannot sack the head of the subsidiary without agreement of the consortium holding the 51% shareholding.
It is nothing to do with not obeying orders from the parent company - they are a minority shareholder. This sort of thing is common with Joint Ventures (JVs).