Reading up on Chinese history, I learned that China’s Nuclear Programme came about by Mao pressuring Khrushchev, and as retaliation to Eisenhower’s threats to use atomic bombs like “conventional bullets”.
My question is, who helped the three above nations develop their programmes and why did they feel the need to be Nuclear armed?
As to the why, but not the how, of South Africa's nuclear weapons program, u/TheAlaskan wrote up an excellent [answer] (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4mh9zf/why_did_south_africa_have_a_nuclear_weapons/?utm_source=reddit-android) though certainly others can contribute as well.
u/restricteddata wrote an [answer] (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/68tzry/what_caused_pakistan_and_india_to_develop_nuclear/?utm_source=reddit-android) about the impetus for the Indian and Pakistani nuclear programs, although this is not to say others cannot contribute as well.