The vision of a China Dream extolled by the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, it seems, has little appeal to people when they are given the chance to vote on it.

A former deputy director of the office overseeing Taiwan affairs publicly acknowledged the failure at a policy forum in December, saying that China needed to rethink “our own working methods and approach.”

Instead of enticing people in Taiwan to draw closer, Mr. Xi’s policies have pushed them farther away, and a recognition of that reality is already raising unusually public concerns in Beijing. An annual government survey in Taiwan found that barely 1 percent of Taiwanese favored unification “as soon as possible.”

“Winning over the hearts of the people and doing well in work with the masses was always the Communist Party’s strong suit, our special skill,” the former deputy director, Wang Zaixi, said at the forum. “So why has it failed in the face of our Taiwan compatriots? Can you blame them?”

China, of course, has loomed over elections in Taiwan ever since the former Japanese colony transitioned to democracy after decades of authoritarian rule following the arrival of Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang forces in 1945. In this campaign, China has done more than ever to make its preferences clear — and, critics say, to stoke polarization among Taiwan’s 23 million people.

Since Ms. Tsai took office in May 2016, China has largely refused to engage with her government. Instead, Beijing has issued threats against Ms. Tsai’s aims to “split” China, and flexed its military muscle. It has also restricted economic and cultural ties, including the flow of tourists — all in the hopes of undermining her political support.

At the same time, it offered incentives to Taiwanese businesses and support for her political opponents, including the Kuomintang. China’s tactics have involved what officials and analysts have described as covert efforts to spread disinformation and otherwise undercut Ms. Tsai’s administration.