Taiwan prosecutors have closed a four-year corruption probe into Hsinchu's troubled baseball stadium without charging former mayor Lin Chih-chien, a win for him and a setback for the current city government that filed the complaints.

• Prosecutors found no bribes and no illegal money flowing between city officials and the contractors, after wiretaps, searches and financial checks.
• The stadium's budget ballooned from NT$350 million to NT$1.15 billion, but prosecutors said the extra work — an underground car park, outfield reinforcement and other items — followed procurement rules.
• Claims that builders buried outside waste at the site did not hold up; the debris found was small in volume and mostly came from approved on-site demolition fill.
• Four lower-level officials got deferred prosecution over false paperwork and must each pay a small fine to the state.
• Prosecutors acknowledged real administrative failures — sloppy supervision and opening the stadium before proper inspection — but called them a matter for civil courts and the government watchdog, not criminal law.

Outlook: The Control Yuan review continues, and the fight over who pays for the stadium's defects is likely to move into civil litigation and politics ahead of the next election cycle.