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• Trump sentencing: A judge postpones Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case until Nov. 26, after the United States’ elections. To read the Monitor’s late-breaking story on this topic, by Henry Gass, please click here.
• Hunter Biden pleads guilty: Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, pleads guilty to federal tax charges, a surprise move that avoids a trial weeks before the presidential election.
• China adoptions: The Chinese government is ending its intercountry adoption program. The U.S. State Department says it’s seeking clarification on how the decision will affect hundreds of American families with pending applications.
• Nicaraguan political prisoners: The U.S. government says it has secured the release of 135 Nicaraguan political prisoners who were freed on humanitarian grounds, according to a statement.
• Teen vaping declines: Teen vaping in the U.S. has dropped to its lowest level in a decade, according to new survey data.

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A new textbook for university students in China warns that rock ’n’ roll is a security threat, designed by the West to stir up young people for revolution. That news is a bit off-key to the tens of millions of Chinese who attend rock music festivals almost every weekend, enjoy a vibrant underground music scene in big cities, and tune in to TV competitions among rock bands.

One industrial city, Shijiazhuang, even dubbed itself the “hometown” of rock in the past year, while Wuhan enjoys being known as “Punk City.” In April, one fan of Chinese rock, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, was in Beijing and bought the album “Black Dream” by rock star Dou Wei at a record store.

Rock certainly has roots in youthful rebellion. That’s why the first Elvis album from the 1950s was not released in China until 1977, or after the Cultural Revolution and death of Mao Tse-tung. The Rolling Stones did not play in China until 2006.

The first big Chinese rock star, Cui Jian, had a hit in the mid-1980s, “Nothing to My Name,” which was used during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Mr. Cui “introduced people not only to a new sound, but to a new idea: That there were alternatives out there; that you could be an individual, that maybe, just maybe, we didn’t have all the things we were supposed to have,” wrote Jonathan Campbell in his book, “Red Rock: The Long, Strange March of Chinese Rock & Roll.”

But rock in the Middle Kingdom has evolved, adopting Chinese instruments and sounds while often being overshadowed by pop music, especially songs by megastar Taylor Swift. It has “become more diverse and decentralized,” wrote one big rock fan, Cai Yineng, an editor of the cultural news site Sixth Tone. The new rock music, while often censored by authorities, is bringing attention to issues like pollution and globalization, he states.

If rock sparks revolutions – and it clearly had an influence in the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 – it is only in the thought of the listener. Rock relies on a creative freedom and a curiosity that breaks mental boundaries.

“By retaining our ‘open-earedness,’ we can enjoy all the new features and sounds that China’s rock musicians are constantly throwing our way, and perhaps also keep our ears to the ground of Chinese society and popular sentiment at the same time. Let’s stay curious,” wrote Mr. Cai in August.

What most worries the Chinese Communist Party is that rock music may be the bearer of “universal values,” like the idea of individual freedom. Yet the party’s new college textbook is up against a very strong music scene in China, whether it be rock, reggae, or rap. That was clear in a social media posting by China’s table-tennis gold medal winner Fan Zhendong during the Paris Olympics. An avid “Swiftie,” he wrote, “Music is universal. Great musicians like Taylor Swift bring us healing power and confidence.”