FRENCH food, drink and crockery will be off the tables from Monday in more than 20 Hong Kong restaurants protesting at the resumption of French nuclear testing in the South Pacific.
The start of the week-long boycott - organised by Michelle Garnaut, managing director of M at the Fringe - coincides with a march arranged by New Zealand environmentalist Julie Davey to hand in a petition at the French Consulate.
President Jacques Chirac announced last month there would be eight tests on Mururoa atoll in September.
Australian Ms Garnaut said: 'We are speaking in the most vociferous way possible, putting our money where our mouths are.' She urged other groups to join.
France has been accused of colonial arrogance because it will use French Polynesia as the site for the tests. Environmental groups also fear there will be a radiation leak into the sea.
'I don't see why the rest of the world should suffer from France's colonial political rubbish,' said Ms Garnaut. 'A country of the importance of France setting this sort of example is possibly the most outrageous aspect of this French act of post-colonial vandalism. Can you imagine how everyone would feel if the British decided to drop bombs on Hong Kong?' Restaurants taking part are: M at the Fringe, Post 97, Dolce Vita, Club 97, Petticoat Lane - all run by Ms Garnaut and her sister Nichole - The American Pie, Tutto Bene, Tutto Meglio, Zona Rosa, California, La Bodega, Wyndham Street Thai, Portico and The Bank Bar, O'Brien's, Camargue, The Continental, LA Cafe, The Eatery, the Uncle Russ coffee group, the Viceroy of India, Gaylord's and Lucy's.
