Taiwan says China risks hurting ties if it mishandles Hong Kong protests

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's leader said on Tuesday that China risked alienating the island's people and damaging relations if it failed to respond with a "delicate hand" to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. The comments by President Ma Ying-jeou came as tens of thousands of protesters extended a blockade of Hong Kong streets, stockpiling supplies and erecting makeshift barricades ahead of what some fear may be a push by police to clear the roads before Chinese National Day on Wednesday. Events in the former British colony have been greeted with apprehension in Taiwan. The island has extensive economic ties with China, but Beijing has never renounced the use of force to take back what it regards as a renegade province. Ma told a meeting of the ruling Nationalist, or Kuomintang, party that the confrontation between police and demonstrators was very worrying. "If the mainland authority can handle this appeal with a delicate hand, it can help to shorten the mental gaps between people across the Taiwan Strait and benefit cross-strait relations," he said in remarks issued by the party. "Otherwise, it could serve to alienate Taiwanese people and cause damage to cross-strait relations." It was the second time in consecutive days that Ma had urged China to take a peaceful and cautious approach towards the protests. On Monday he said that Taiwan understood and supported Hong Kong people's demand for universal suffrage, adding: "We do not wish to see any conflicts." (Reporting by J.R. Wu; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)