Illustration: Liu Rui

By Ding Gang

Over two weeks of excitement at the COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen had finally come to an end.

US President Barack Obama came and went in a hurry, not intending or expecting to get too much applause.

In contrast, another previously unknown group came to the world's notice. The UK's Financial Times reported that a group of VIPs had just arrived from a remote land and was passing through the corridor, followed by eager journalists.

However, prior to this, how many people knew about the small island country Tuvala, with a population of a mere 12,000 people? Claiming to be the world's first sinking country, it attracted global media attention with desperation.

Lacking in power in international affairs, these small countries rarely attract attention. However, when these countries get together, as they did in the negotiation during the climate conference, they are likely to have considerable influence. As the UK's Independent said, it is time for small nations to demonstrate their muscles.

Copenhagen has a lot of follow- up problems, such as whether a legal document can be finalized by the end of 2010, who should pay more, how much could be gained, and so on.

However, we can look at other perspectives besides these specific issues and study developing world trends, which might help us to find those problems more worthy of our attention.

Copenhagen proves that no country is able to effectively safeguard its own interests in international negotiations by solely relying on its own strength. No matter how strong you are, you must look for cooperation, and find partners with common interests.

The greatest difference between the current multipolarized world and the past lies in the fact that the world has formed a lot of negotiation mechanisms.

A lot of problems can only rely on negotiated settlement. The era of worshipping strength has long passed, and the international community has moved from unipolarity to multipolarity.

The world is destined to undergo a period of "one country, one vote." Such negotiation looks like a rough-and-tumble fight, with all countries speaking their own languages. And it is often as tiring as a marathon.

Original goals can be easily lost in the last minute. However, this actually represents an improvement. After all, all countries are willing to sit down to talk by the negotiating table.

Every country, big or small, is a participant. By joining together, even some small countries have considerable bargaining power. Without followers or allies, a strong country will stand at an extremely disadvantageous position in such negotiations.

At the same time, as long as small countries join together, they can make it impossible for those great powers to act. Of course, powerful countries can do whatever they want in spite of the wishes of the majority of other countries.

But this can cause moral disadvantage, a loss of image, and even isolation. If every medium-sized or small country distances itself from you, it makes some things impossible no matter how strong you are

To succeed in negotiations that involve so many countries, one important technique is to use "collective advantage" and to unite as many partners as we can. The larger the coalitions we build, the greater an advantage we will have.

China needs to do two things to build these partnerships. One is to sometimes put aside minor aspects of our own interests in order to seek common ground on larger issues. Without this, we cannot unite other nations.

The other thing is to improve our ability to help others cooperate, which is particularly important for a big country like China. The more countries you can encourage to come together, the more prestige and respect your can get, and the better you can protect your own interests.

As a developing country, China should closely align with other developing countries and continue to strengthen coordination and solidarity with them.

This is the key mechanism for China to actively promote reform and effectively protect its own interests in future international negotiations.

The author is a senior editor with the People's Daily. globaltimesopinion@yahoo. com