The excerpt from William Howard Taft's Message to Congress, December 3, 1912, refers to the use of C. dollar diplomacy in Sino-American relations in the early 1900s.
In the excerpt, Taft talks about the importance of American trade and investment in China, and how economic ties can help bring stability and progress to the region. The policy of dollar diplomacy was based on the idea that the U.S. should use its economic power to influence foreign policy and promote American commercial interests abroad.
Taft believed that by investing in China's economy, the U.S. could help strengthen the country and prevent its colonization by other European powers. This approach was seen as a shift away from the previous "big stick" policy of Roosevelt and towards a more economic and peaceful form of diplomacy.