The paragraph above that one is enough context, no? He was asked about pulling out of China.

    Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said Thursday the software giant
    had no plans to pull out of China. Microsoft is chiefly
    interested in getting Beijing to crack down on
    intellectual property rights, and has no desire to ruffle
    relations, analysts said.

The paragraph above is not a quote of Ballmer. There is no actual context provided to say what Ballmer meant by "that," only what the reporter says Ballmer meant. Perhaps that is what the GP meant.