[12] The Interethnic Interfaith Leadership Conferences began in 2000 in Boston, Massachusetts, with the guidance of the 14th Dalai Lama[13] and support from National Endowment for Democracy.

The Conference seeks to advance mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation among the diverse ethnic, religious, and regional groups who live under the direct rule of the Chinese government, and people living in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, and to explore universal values, which will provide common ground for a common democratic future.

The groups represented in the Conference include Han Chinese, Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, Christians, Falun Gong practitioners, Muslims, Buddhists, and people from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

Past Conferences have been held in strategic locations throughout the world: from Boston for the 1st, 2nd and 4th assemblies, to Hartford for the 3rd, to Washington, DC[14] for the 5th and 10th, 13th, to California for the 6th and 7th, to Taiwan for the 8th and 9th, to Dharamsala, India[15] for the 11th, and to Tokyo, Japan[16] for the 12th.

Formally known as ChinaEWeekly, Yibao was established in the 1990s, has published op-eds and news articles focused on the human rights and rule of law situation inside China.