An Overlooked Irony

Whilst I appreciate that China is in many ways far worse than the European Union, I think there is an overlooked irony here that ought to be pressed further which is why is it that so-called "progressives" can argue for independence for the Taiwanese in their struggle to avoid annexation by anti-democratic China, yet cannot argue the same for the English in their desire to leave the anti-democratic EU?

After all both China and the EU are anti-democratic in a number of significant ways, most obviously the appointment process for the Politburo Standing Committee and the appointment process for the EU Commission. Both the Chinese and European governments impose a raft of unwanted and unpopular legislation upon the peoples they purport to govern. Both China and the EU now have laws which restrict the people's freedom of speech, freedom of association and private property rights. 

There would seem to be a severe contradiction here and therefore a considerable degree of cognitive dissonance that could be wrung out of them by hammering them on this point.

Why does it exist? 

Is it because they are a bunch of hypocritical, sanctimonious bastardos of no fixed principles?