China’s Mao-style “mass control” returns—while Taiwan drills resilience and Russia hardens fuel plants

A Le Monde feature argues that under Xi Jinping, China has revived Mao-era principles of mass mobilization and local conflict resolution, but transformed them into a modern system that enables Beijing’s “absolute” control. The article points to the 1963 Fengqiao commune as an emblematic case, originally promoted to organize society and manage disputes at the local level. In the present, the same logic is framed as surveillance- and governance-oriented rather than purely grassroots problem-solving. The thrust is that Beijing’s internal security model is being re-legitimized as a scalable template for national stability. Strategically, this matters because it links domestic control capacity to external posture: a state that can coordinate “mass” compliance and local problem management can also tighten information flows and reduce political uncertainty during crises. Taiwan’s parallel focus on central-local cooperation for urban resilience, highlighted by President Lai Ching-te inspecting New Taipei’s exercise, signals that Taipei is preparing for disruption scenarios where command-and-control and civil defense coordination are decisive. Russia’s officials, meanwhile, are emphasizing protection and rapid repair of oil refineries and accelerating digital monitoring of fuel balances, indicating a parallel logic of continuity-of-operations for critical infrastructure. Together, the cluster suggests a broader trend: governments across Asia and Eurasia are investing in systems that combine surveillance, resilience planning, and industrial continuity to withstand shocks. On markets, Russia’s push to protect and restore refineries and to speed up digital fuel-balance monitoring is likely to support domestic supply stability and reduce the risk of sudden product shortages, which can otherwise lift diesel and gasoline spreads. If repairs are accelerated, the near-term impact could be modestly bullish for Russian refining utilization and for regional fuel logistics, though the effect depends on maintenance schedules and any external constraints. Taiwan’s resilience drills are less directly tied to commodities, but they can influence risk premia for insurers and infrastructure operators in the event of disruptions. China’s internal-security modernization is not a commodity story by itself, yet it can affect investor sentiment around regulatory and compliance risk, particularly for sectors exposed to data governance and security screening. What to watch next is whether China’s “Fengqiao-style” model is operationalized through new surveillance, data, or local governance directives that expand beyond pilot regions. For Taiwan, the key signal will be whether central-local coordination mechanisms from the New Taipei exercise translate into budgeted civil-defense capabilities and interoperable communications. For Russia, the trigger points are the completion of the digital monitoring system for fuel balances and the pace of refinery repairs, which should be reflected in maintenance timelines and product availability. Escalation risk rises if any of these resilience or security upgrades are paired with heightened coercive measures or if fuel monitoring reveals persistent supply gaps that require emergency interventions.

Geopolitical Implications

• 01

  Convergence of internal control and resilience planning across China, Taiwan, and Russia

• 02

  Taiwan strengthening civil-defense coordination to reduce crisis decision latency

• 03

  Russia prioritizing continuity-of-operations for energy infrastructure to protect domestic stability

• 04

  China’s modernization of Mao-era control templates may raise regional political risk

Key Signals

• —New “Fengqiao-style” surveillance/data directives beyond pilot regions
• —Budgeted civil-defense upgrades and interoperable emergency communications in Taiwan
• —Milestones for Russia’s digital fuel-balance monitoring and refinery repair timelines
• —Refined-product availability and volatility indicators in Russia