Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's embattled leader, insisted on Tuesday she had no intention of stepping down, after an audio recording emerged of her saying she wanted to quit and apologise for causing the unrest that has rocked the city.

Hong Kong has endured three months of pro-democracy protests, triggered by opposition to Lam's bid to push through a law allowing extraditions to mainland China. The protests evolved into a wider democracy campaign involving violent clashes between protesters and police, in the biggest challenge to China's rule of Hong Kong since its 1997 handover from the British.