News Analysis Bureaucracy and waste are hamstringing U.S. military development and adversely affecting the nation’s military readiness, according to the former chief software officer of the Air Force. That means the United States is less prepared for a potential conflict with China. “Any bureaucracy which slows down outcomes for the sake of bureaucracy is going to ensure we get behind China,” said Nicolas Chaillan, the Air Force’s first chief software officer, who resigned in September. “China doesn’t let complacency or bureaucracy get in the way of [its military].” The comments come amid increased tensions between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) concerning the de facto independence of Taiwan, mass intellectual property theft, and human rights abuses in Xinjiang and elsewhere. As that competition becomes adversarial, the CCP has focused on technological development in sectors which its leadership considers vital, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning …