Foreign companies defend China earthquake aid

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Online comments called for boycotts of McDonald's, Wal-Mart, Nokia and others in one case calling them "International Super-Misers" but companies said they felt no impact.

"We feel very proud of what we've done. We've done a lot," said Thomas Jonsson, a spokesman for Nokia Corp., which donated food, tents and mobile phones for rescuers. On Wednesday, it pledged 35 million yuan ($5 million) for reconstruction.

McDonald's Corp. said it has served more than 40,000 meals to quake survivors and rescue workers and pledged 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) Wednesday to build new schools in quake areas.

"We've been involved in helping and responding since day one," said McDonald's spokeswoman Lisa Howard.

By Tuesday, foreign companies had donated 1.2 billion yuan ($175 million) in cash, plus supplies worth 108 million yuan ($15.5 million), according to the government.

Despite that, nationalistic Chinese Web surfers who react angrily to any perceived slight to their country have accused foreign companies of failing to provide enough help.

A posting on popular search engine Baidu.com's blog service listed corporate donations and said they were smaller than those after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Comments on online bulletin boards criticized McDonald's Corp., Yum Brands Inc.'s KFC restaurants, Toyota Motor Corp., Nokia, South Korea's Samsung Electronics Corp. and French retailer Carrefour SA.

Chinese nationalists often have conflicted feelings toward foreign companies, which have helped to fuel the country's economic boom but are seen as rivals to local companies.

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