My passport is on the order of 7-8 years old and contains a crease in the machine-readable area pointed out to me by the immigration staff when they failed to get it to read.
When I got it to work, the left edge of the passport was aligned with the left edge of the left red light (covering it) and the top edge was against the top of the reader.

My passport is 8 years old and has seen a lot of use, but the machine readable section doesn't have any creases. I did the alignment trick exactly as you described, PaclantFlyer, and have had zero issues. Bear4Asian, perhaps it's time to send in for a passport renewal, and you can be our test case for the passport update. :D

Anyone face any issues with the lack of Taiwan stamps because of egate entry/exit? A few times on departure from Taiwan, the check-in agent was really confused because he couldn’t find the entry stamp. After explaining to him the situation, everything was fine. (No big deal).

yesterday, I flew TSA-SHA and got stuck at the China side for a bit. Customs agents kept asking for my other ID (I use Us passport with Visa) and I said I didn’t have any (which is true). They assumed that since I didn’t have Taiwan stamps, I must have a Taiwan passport or another passport. After a gathering of supervisors, they let me pass. (Ended up all right, but I can see this potentially being an issue in the future).

I've departed from Taiwan twice since using the e-Gate, both times on flights to Japan on JAL. The first time - and I had posted about that earlier - the ticketing agent thumbed through my passport, looking for an entry stamp. The most recent ones I have are from three years ago. She asked for my ARC or APRC, which I don't have. After saying, "I have e-Gate for Global Entry. It is a new program," she seemed satisfied. Checking in for the second flight on JAL didn't get a second glance from the ticketing agent. The only issue the second time was an attendant who thought I was a confused visitor in the wrong line while waiting for to use an e-Gate. I said, "I have e-Gate for Global Entry," and didn't face further issues.

I haven't traveled from Taiwan to Mainland China directly, so I can't comment on the process. Is it common practice for passport control in the mainland to match entry/exit stamps on flights from Taiwan?

So eGate worked for me upon entry, but not upon exit. When it read my passport exiting, it said I needed to fill out an arrival card. Well, considering I entered using eGate, I wouldn't have filled one out.

Passport control officer shrugged it off....."sorry our programming just isn't very good thesedays".

Kind of irritating; the whole point of paying the (not insubstantial) fee is for it to work.

Did you complete an electronic arrival card prior to using eGate to enter?

Even when using e-Gate, GE-reciprocity program members are required to fill out a landing card on arrival. If you didn't, I'm surprised the e-Gate let you into the country in the first place.

Yeah, the system just let me through the gates upon entry without an arrival card. I had filled out the arrival card, but the person who did the interview said it wasn't needed and pitched it in the bin, go figure.

So it was human error on their part.

The arrival card for the gates is online. You can't use the paper ones. This was definitely human error on their part but next time, be sure to fill out the online one. The interview person kept stressing that without the card online filled out(kind of like ESTA), the system won't work.

Yep. Before I used it the first time the interviewer had asked if I had completed an electronic arrival card, which I had done following the advice here and instructions on the website. I am also surprised that it worked without having completed an electronic arrival card.

I don't know if it's common practice, but it wouldn't surprise me. There have been many stories of China immigration seizing one (ie, the Taiwan) passport if the traveler shows they have multiple passports. BR check-in staff at TPE and TSA have hinted to me in the past not to let China see, say, both US and Taiwan passports. So, it seems possible that they're using the lack of stamp as a clue that the traveler has a Taiwan passport.

That's good to know. I don't think it would be an issue in my case since Chinese immigration officials would consider me unlikely to have both Taiwan and US passports. (For the record, I hold only a US passport.) Mrs. Majuki's case might be different because she uses her Taiwan passport to enter and leave Taiwan and US passport everywhere else. She therefore has no ROC entry/exit stamps in her US passport. While she does not have a tái bāo zhèng, it sounds like they would try to get her to enter using her national ID + visa on arrival if they knew about those documents, even with a US passport with visa in hand.

Adding one DP, used it in RMQ departure - one machine failed, another machine worked.

Thanks for the DP! Anybody go for a passport renewal yet?