Berliners are calling for a pair of newborn panda cubs to be called "Hong" and "Kong", in solidarity with the ongoing political unrest in Hong Kong, according to BBC.

Local publication ran a poll for names

The two cubs were born at Berlin Zoo on Aug. 31, to parents Meng Meng and Jiao Qing, who are on loan from China and arrived in the Berlin Zoo in June 2017.

Cozy Friday 😴 Eat, sleep, cuddle, repeat: some might find the daily routine of #ZooBerlin’s panda twins rather monotonous, but it’s exactly what they need – and the thick fur of mother Meng Meng certainly looks inviting 🐼❤#babypandasberlin pic.twitter.com/7hBNh5P4iM

— Zoo Berlin (@zooberlin) September 6, 2019

Berlin publication Der Tagesspiegel ran a poll soon after, asking readers to come up with name suggestions for the twins.

"Hong" and "Kong" made the top of the list, with one reader saying they should be named "in solidarity with a city fighting for survival".

Readers also suggested naming the cubs "Joshua Wong Chi-fung" and "Agnes Chow Ting", after two prominent Hong Kong protest leaders.

The paper cheekily suggested that naming them after the activists could be a way to keep the cubs in Germany.

Otherwise, the cubs would have to be returned to China after they are weaned off their mother.

In return, The Guardian reported that activist Joshua Wong has urged the zoo to call the cubs "Democracy" and "Freedom", saying that it was a way that Germany could send a very clear signal to China.

Angela Merkel is currently in China

Although the poll was not organised by the zoo itself, the issue was picked up by Germany's leading tabloid, Bild, and calls to politicise the naming of the twin cubs have grown stronger.

"Bild is choosing to call the panda cubs Hong and Kong because it's China's brutal politics that lie behind these panda babies", the paper wrote.

"Bild is demanding of the German government that it reacts in a political way to the birth of these small bears."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is currently on a visit to China, and Bild has suggested that she could relay the news personally to Chinese President Xi Jinping in person.

Other less political names

Not all the names suggested are politically driven.

Tagesspiegel readers also offered up names such as, "Ying and Yang", "Ping and Pong", "Tai and Chi", "Kung and Fu", as well as "Bam and Bus" (which means "bamboo" in German) -- and all of which actually sounds awfully racist.

However, it appears that "Hong" and "Kong" are still the favourites.

Top image from Berlin Zoo's Twitter.