February 9, 2026 00:00 United Daily News / Reporters
Li Longkui and Li Yixin / Taipei Report
More than a month after the Zhang Wen incident, the Taipei MRT was attacked by arsonists yesterday, once again causing public tension. Some scholars believe that while the motives behind yesterday’s “arson petition” are different, the possibility of a “copycat effect” cannot be ruled out. The government should use education and judicial means to deter similar crimes, and the media should avoid describing every detail of the case.
Wang Pi-Chi, Associate Professor of the Department of Criminal Justice at Ming Chuan University that Zeng may have wanted to use arson to attract public attention and express his demands. His escape after the crime shows it was a planned crime, and his motives and methods are similar to the “rice bomber” of more than 20 years ago, both exploiting public fear of explosions and fires to make demands.
However, cases involving petitions to the government using radical means are rare in recent years. Although Zeng’s motives differ from the “random arson for diversion” of the December 19th random attack, it is still difficult to say that he was not influenced by that case. He said that news reports following the incident will inevitably attract public attention and may even encourage potential criminals to refer to and imitate the acts, as the imitation effect does exist in the field of criminology. The media bears the public’s right to know, and on the other hand, it may be able to describe only the objective facts in its reports, with some reservation regarding the methods used, avoiding a detailed presentation of every aspect of the case.
Professor Hua-Fu Hsu of National Chung Cheng University Department Of Criminology said that Tseng’s repeated arson attacks within the Taipei Metro system are likely a symptom of the imitation effect of the December 19th random attack. Regardless of whether the motives are the same or whether others were harmed, the perpetrators did not consider the safety of others.
He believes that the Taipei Metro’s enhanced drills have improved personnel’s response capabilities, and the timely response of station staff after yesterday’s incident prevented a disaster.
However, the government and society still need to consider how to deter and prevent similar incidents from occurring; or how to proactively identify and handle potentially out-of-control cases through a social safety net. Otherwise, in the future, anyone who is unhappy or has a grievance could cause public panic.