Grasping For the Bomb: attempted nuclear proliferation in Taiwan and S. Africa

South Africa and the ROC (Republic of China) )(present-day Taiwan), were both nations that were solidly in the Western camp during the Cold War. However, they regarded U.S. support as insufficient to guarantee their security (for different reasons). The story of the versions of security they pursued, and how those efforts were reversed, contains cautionary tales for our time.
South Africa is the only nation (with the possible exception of Ukraine) which has achieved nuclear capability, and then voluntarily relinquished it. It is a rarely upbeat tale of success among tales of proliferation in general.
One question the history raises, among others, is : “Is the world safer with more nuclear-armed nations , or more dangerous?”