Six-Part OTL Series to Examine Issues Surrounding China, Host of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Debuts June 1

Outside the Lines will present a six-part series examining issues surrounding China, host of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, debuting on Sundays 9:30 a.m. ET show. A new segment of the week-long series will premiere on Outside the Lines First Report (Monday-Friday 3:30 p.m., except 3 p.m. Thursday). The series features information from Bob Holtzman, who filed reports from China, Steve Cyphers, Jeremy Schaap and Shelley Smith. From the Series: "I think that we do not have the right to look at this with our Western eyes. The Western World had 200 years between the French Revolution and today to evolve in what is called human rights. China started its journey in 1949 with a totally shattered country." -- Jacques Rogge, International Olympic Committee President, on Chinas human rights issues. ESPNs Six-Part Series on Beijing Oylmpics: The landscape in China (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.): While the Olympic torch left China on "a journey of harmony," a March uprising in Tibet spurred international attention on China's history of human rights abuse, thus making the torch a magnet for worldwide protest. Chinese coverage of the relay was distinct from coverage elsewhere, and came under scrutiny for being partial and censored. Holtzman examines China's mood surrounding the international protests and the level of Chinese government control. Role of the IOC (Monday 3:30 p.m.): Cyphers examines the background of the awarding of the Games to Beijing, what promises were made to win the Games, and whether those promises have been kept. This segment also explores the economic factors that may have influenced the decision to award the Games to China. Chinas Involvement in Darfur and Tibet (Tuesday 3:30 p.m.): Global tensions have been mounting about China's human rights issues in Darfur, Sudan, a country which sells oil to, and buy arms from, China, and Tibet where Tibetans are being asked to denounce their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and large parts of their history while China has cracked down on their protests and is allowing little information out of that country. Smith reports. Attitude of Current Olympic Athletes (Wednesday 3:30 p.m.): Olympic athletes discuss whether the Games should be a forum for politics, weighing the desire to speak their minds against the feeling that the Olympics should be about coming together. Schaap reports. History of Politics and Olympics (Thursday, 3 p.m.): The buildup to the Olympic Games has been dominated not by displays of global unity, but by protesters venting anger at the Chinese regime. While pre-Olympic demonstrations are largely unprecedented, the Games themselves have long been used as a platform by various ideologies and causes, from Hitler's use of the 1936 Berlin Games to promote his Nazi agenda, to the bloodless Olympic battleground of the Cold War, and the iconic protest of American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Schaap looks at the political dimensions of the Games throughout recent history. What will the United States do? (Friday 3:30 p.m.): This piece looks at arguments for and against boycotting the Opening Ceremonies, and the political issues surrounding the decision.