Secretary-General of the United Nations the appointee's national origin and to gender equality, although no woman has yet served as Secretary-General. The length of the term is discretionary, but all Secretaries-General since 1971 have been appointed to five-year terms. Every Secretary-General since 1961 has been re-selected for a second term, with the exception of Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who was vetoed by the United States in the 1996 selection. There is a term limit of two full terms, established when China cast a record 16 vetoes against Kurt Waldheim's third term in the 1981 selection. No Secretary-General since 1981 has attempted to secure a third term. The
1971 United Nations Secretary-General selection the 1971 selection was complicated by the uncertain status of the Chinese seat in the United Nations. On 20 November 1970, a majority of the General Assembly had voted to expel the Republic of China from the United Nations and replace it with the People's Republic of China. Although the vote had fallen short of the two-thirds required to take effect, supporters of Communist China were confident of victory in 1971. On 25 October 1971, two-thirds of the General Assembly voted to expel Nationalist China from the United Nations. The Chinese veto was placed in the hands of Communist China,