Americans are so accustomed to the notion of fair play that the arbitrary ways of other countries can set them on their heels. Such was the case recently when China announced new restrictions for adopting Chinese babies. Do you have a weight problem? Don't bother to apply. Has your face been disfigured? Sorry. Are you single, married less than two years, over 50, on anti-depressants? Too bad.

American reaction was typical. It seemed unfathomable and unfair that China would think heavy people can't be good parents or that someone whose face is scarred isn't worthy to raise a child. In short, Americans reacted as they always do — by thinking in terms of individuals. But in China and other totalitarian nations, being an individual can land you in trouble. There is no "case by case" approach and no questions are allowed.

Do Chinese officials feel a disfigured person will frighten a child, or do they think heavy people will pass the condition onto an adopted baby? The world will never know. China will never explain. We are left only to speculate.

A cynical view would be that China is just beefing up its public relations. Since 1989, Americans have adopted 48,504 children — 7,906 in 2005 alone. Perhaps the image of all those loving American parents made China appear it was turning its back on its own offspring. The willy-nilly rules may well be window-dressing to show that China isn't just dumping its babies overseas.

For now, the big losers are prospective parents in the United States and other countries who will be denied the chance to lift babies out of hopelessness and give them a good life.

The winners are people everywhere who don't have to live under the iron hand of Chinese totalitarianism. For Americans and people in other democratic nations, the notion of a government that is never responsive to the will of the people and never forced to explain its actions goes beyond bizarre. It goes all the way to frightening.