Thousands of protesters are expected to take to the streets of Hong Kong in another mass rally on Sunday despite a pledge by the city’s embattled Chief Executive Carrie Lam to suspend the controversial new extradition bill.

Ms Lam tried to strike a conciliatory tone on Saturday as she delayed the bill after a tumultuous week that saw the worst political violence since the UK handed the city over to China in 1997. Tens of thousands of demonstrators clashed with police who repelled them with tear gas and rubber bullets.

The escalation came three days after Ms Lam doubled down on the law despite a record-breaking rally last Sunday, which organisers say drew more than one million people to the streets.

Critics fear that the sweeping bill puts foreign and Chinese nationals, even those just transiting through Hong Kong, at risk of unfair treatment by China’s mistrusted and opaque justice system, and damages the city’s reputation as a safe global financial hub.

Ms Lam’s U-turn and pledge to listen to the public, was immediately rejected by protest leaders who demanded she fully scrap the bill, resign and apologise for hard-handed police tactics.