Globalization and the knowledge economy are both linked to widening income inequality, Siew said, and to address those challenges Taiwan needs to adjust its industrial structure and step up the opening of its economy to better connect it to global markets.

Siew suggested that to revitalize Taiwan's economy in the short term, the government should boost public spending on infrastructure despite its tight budget.

The former vice president also advocated pushing forward a plan to establish free economic pilot zones (FEPZs).

Unlike the controversial trade-in-services agreement with China that calls for a full opening of the service industry, Siew said the economic zone plan aims to relax regulations for developing high-end services on a trial basis.

He appealed to the public to think about the plan in a rational manner and urged all sectors of society to pay more attention to economics than to politics, saying that political parties should respect professional opinions when formulating economic policies.

Given Taiwan's strong industrial and talent-based competitiveness, it should boldly open up its markets, Siew added.

The conference, sponsored by the Executive Yuan, kicked off yesterday. The three-day conference, which is taking place at the Taipei International Convention Center, is being held in response to requests from the Sunflower Student Movement to summon a “civil constitutional governance conference.”

Two separate subjects were deliberated yesterday: “Taiwan's economic development strategy in the globalization trend” and “Taiwan's participation in regional economic integration and cross-strait economic and trade strategies.”

Premier Promises to Implement Meeting Conclusions

The conference, however, was boycotted by opposition political parties and groups that oppose the government. They argued that the meeting will encourage talk but not produce policies or strategies that can really be implemented in the future.The conference, chaired by Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and former Vice Premier Lin Hsin-i (林信義), had 160 attendees, including heavyweights Finance Minister Chang Sheng-ford (張盛和), National Development Council Minister Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔), Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and Taipei Chamber of Commerce Director-General Wang Ying-chieh (王應傑).

Premier Jiang said he is much more serious and confident about the meeting. Jiang said that he very much regretted the fact the conference was unable to attract the participation of all parties. Nevertheless, he promised that any conclusions reached in the meetings will be promptly carried out by the government.

“In regards to conclusions reached by the end of the three-day meetings, whether they are consensus opinions, majority opinions or individual opinions, we will review them all carefully,” Jiang said. “With consensus opinions, the executive authority promises to implement them with upmost sincerity and determination.”

Transparency through Live Feed Post

An unprecedented “live feed wall” has been set up at the conference, where discussions are posted live for those who are not present, at the same time allowing the public to voice their opinions on the wall. This mechanism allows the public to hear speakers while providing instantaneous feedback. The transparency ensures that the conference is not a “black box” operation, Jiang said.

A large security force was dispatched at the conference yesterday and venues nearby MRT exits were guarded by police. While no protest groups showed up, several groups, including Democracy Tautin (民主鬥陣), Taiwan Rural Front (台灣農村陣線), Green Citizens' Action Alliance (綠色公民行動聯盟) and Doctors' Working Conditions Reform Task Force (醫師勞動條件改革小組), are expected to show up on Monday.

According to Sunflower Movement student leader Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷), none of the student activists were invited to the event. Chen said that while the Sunflower Movement asked for a “civil constitutional governance conference” to root out problems at a fundamental level, the government has failed to do so by wasting money on holding this trade and economic conference and youth consultancy groups, which Chen claims, are only meetings in form.

台灣應該抓住中國崛起：蕭萬長

由劉允，中國郵政
2014年7月27日，上午12:01 TWN

台北，台灣 - 前副總統蕭萬長星期六說，中國的崛起​​是不可避免的，台灣應該設法利用這種崛起的一個踏腳石發展，而不是關閉了大門，並反對任何涉及北京。

在經濟和貿易事務為期三天的全國大會第一天的主題演講，蕭萬長表示，中國作為世界上最大的貿易國，是新興的在一個全球化的世界，而且它的上升是不可避免的，密切相關，台灣的發展。

世界經濟在過去20年的發展已經受到全球化和知識經濟時代，這已經遠遠負責台灣的經濟不景氣不是中國崛起的開始，蕭萬長角逐。

全球化和知識經濟都連接到日益擴大的收入差距，蕭萬長說，解決這些挑戰，台灣需要調整產業結構，加強其經濟的開放，以便更好地將其連接到全球市場。

蕭萬長認為，要振興台灣經濟在短期內，政府應當加強對基礎設施的公共開支，儘管其預算吃緊。

前副總統還主張推進計劃建立自由經濟示範區（FEPZs）。

不像中國的有爭議的貿易在服務協議，呼籲服務行業的全面開放，蕭萬長說，經濟特區計劃旨在放寬法規試行發展高端服務業。

他呼籲市民考慮該計劃以理性的態度，並呼籲社會各界更加重視經濟而不是政治的，說是制定經濟政策時，各政黨應尊重專業意見。

鑑於台灣的強大的工業和人才為基礎的競爭力，就應該大膽地開放市場，蕭萬長補充說。

本次會議，由行政院主辦，拉開序幕昨天。在為期三天的會議，這是發生在台北國際會議中心，被關押在響應從向日葵學生運動的要求召集“公民憲政會議。”

兩個獨立的研究對象昨天審議：“在全球化的趨勢下台灣的經濟發展戰略”和“台灣參與區域經濟一體化與兩岸經濟和貿易戰略。”

總理應許要實現會議結論

本次會議，由總理江依樺（江宜樺）和前副總理林信義（林信義）主持，擁有160名參與者，其中包括重量級的財政部長張盛福特（張盛和），國展局部長關中 - 明（管中閔），台北市長郝龍斌（郝龍斌）和台北市商會總幹事王應傑（王應傑）。

此次會議，但是，抵制反對派政黨和反對政府團體。他們認為，這次會議將鼓勵說話，但不能產生真正能夠在未來執行的政策或策略。

江總理說，他是更嚴重，信心的會議。江澤民說，他非常感到遺憾的是，這次會議無法吸引各方的參與。不過，他承諾，在會議上達成任何結論將及時開展政府。

“在問候了為期三天的會議，無論他們是一致的意見，多數意見或個人意見的結尾得出的結論，我們將仔細審查所有這些，”江說。“有了一致意見，行政機關承諾與至上的誠意和決心，以實現它們。”

通過Live飼料帖子透明度

一場前所未有的“活飼料牆”已被設置在會議上，在討論會現場發布為那些誰是不存在，同時讓市民表達在牆上的意見。這種機制讓公眾聽到揚聲器，同時提供即時的反饋。的透明度，確保會議不是一個“黑箱”操作，江說。

大量安全部隊昨天被派遣在會議和場地附近的地鐵出口被警察把守。雖然沒有抗議團體出現了，幾個小組，其中包括民主Tautin（民主鬥陣），台灣農村陣線（台灣農村陣線），綠色公民行動聯盟（綠色公民行動聯盟）和醫生工作條件改革工作小組（醫師勞動條件改革小組），預計將出現在週一。

據向日葵運動學生領袖陳煒婷（陳為廷），沒有學生的積極分子被邀請到該事件。陳先生表示，雖然向日葵運動要了“公民憲政研討會”深挖問題在最基本的層面，政府並沒有這樣做通過舉辦這次經貿會議和青年顧問組，陳聲稱花冤枉錢，在形式上只是會議。