Prime Minister Stephen Harper is heading for China with four cabinet ministers and seven MPs Monday. Since Harper took office in 2006 it will only be his second visit. Not only did he meet with his holiness, the Dalai Lama, which angered the Chinese government, but Harper also did not attend the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Now why would Prime Minister Harper all of a sudden have a change of heart? He did state that his reason for not attending the Beijing Olympics was because he did not think Canadians wanted to see the government sell out over the “almighty dollar.” So it couldn’t possibly be because of the Northern Gateway pipeline that would send Alberta oilsands crude oil through my backyard of British Columbia’s coast over to Asia.

It surely couldn’t be any talks on human rights issues, we all know where China stands on that; no voting, no free media, object anything and be imprisoned. No, surely no talks on human rights.

China’s interest in the Arctic perhaps? China’s ambassador to Canada has already stated that China would like to be an observer on the Arctic Council. Maybe, but still wouldn’t get me on a plane all the way to China, especially on a Monday.

Yes, of course there will be talks of investment and trade with China being Canada’s second-largest trade partner. In 2010 Canadians bought toys, electronics, clothing, machinery, shoes, tupperware and everything in their junk drawer from China, totaling $44.5 billion. Not quite the same going the other way but Canadians still sold back to China $13.2 billion in natural resources from wood pulp, mineral ores, oil and gas.

Still not satisfied though. There must be something more to entice this visit. It can’t just be the hope to sell a measly extra $5 to $10 billion in crude oil. It’s not like Canada needs the extra business, not while deals for the Trans Canada Keystone XL pipeline to the US are running along so smoothly. Sure the U.S. President Barack Obama unfortunately had to delay approvals, but it’s gonna happen.

So what does China have that the US doesn’t? Pandas! Cute, cuddly, panda bears. Let’s be honest for a second here, who doesn’t want a panda bear to call their own. So what if it takes a little dirty crude oil from Alberta to get it. You try and say no to those big eyes and that soft fir. I for one say let’s give Prime Minister Harper a round of applause. If the Chinese government wants to use a panda bear as a gift to promote diplomatic relations, who are we to stop them.

When Harper finally does meet Canada’s new furry mascot, I hope he remembers the wise words of his spokesman when he told reporters: “I wouldn’t wear your bamboo undershorts.”

For the eighth time since June, a Chinese airport was shut down for more than an hour last month because air traffic controllers saw a UFO. Three flights from Beijing and Shanghai were diverted to nearby airports.

ABC News reports, “The alert was triggered by bright lights in the sky that moved erratically, but reports claim that air traffic controllers at the Hohhot Air Traffic Management Bureau spotted the object on their radar. After about an hour, the object and the lights suddenly vanished and passenger jets were allowed to land.”

The Chinese authorities have refused to comment but some experts believe the three sightings could be evidence of a new Chinese military aircraft. The government has gone so far as to deny previous sightings.

The International Energy Agency has released a report that has officials in China racing to double check the findings. The agency claims that China’s 2009 consumption of energy sources was equal to 2.265 billion tons of oil, compared to 2.169 billion tons for the U.S.

According to the IEA statistics, China’s energy consumption has more than doubled in just under ten years, from 1.107 billion tons in 2000. A number of factors have contributed to this massive increase, including a rapidly growing population and manufacturing-based economy.

China is calling foul, and their National Bureau of Statistics says that the energy consumption last year was equal to 2.132 billion tons of oil – which is less than the International Energy Agency’s figure.

“The trend is undeniable that the Chinese energy consumption is growing very strongly – which is very legitimate, by the way, considering their population – and the energy from the OECD countries, the U.S., Europe and Japan, is stagnating. They are two major undeniable trends,” said a representative from the IEA. “There’s nothing specific from this year, it’s all the same methodologies we used before.”

Tragedy struck China this morning as Typhoon Morakot overtook Taiwan killing at least four, leaving 31 missing and sending over one million fleeing their homes.

Morakot has caused Taiwan’s worst flooding in 50 years, dumping 100 inches of rain on the southern county of Pingtung, which landed in China’s Fujian province at 4:20 pm.

Sadly, among those dead was a four-year-old child who was buried with four adults in debris. Fourteen workers are among the missing when their emergency shelter was washed away by rising floodwaters.

China’s provincial government has sent more than 8 million mobile phone text messages to warn residents of the approaching typhoon, the Chinese state agency news is reporting.