Three years after the events of ''Rush Hour 2'', In Los Angeles, Chinese Ambassador Solon Han, with Hong Kong Police Force Chief Inspector Lee as his bodyguard, addresses the importance of fighting the Triad (underground society) at the World Criminal Court, announcing that he may know the whereabouts of Shy Shen, a semi-mythical individual of great importance to the Chinese mob. Before announcing, an unknown assassin uses a sniper rifle on Han without being seen, disrupting the conference, and resulting in a large riot among everyone observing them. Lee chases the shooter and corners him, discovering that the assassin is his childhood Japanese foster brother Kenji (given name)#Fictional characters. When Lee hesitates to shoot Kenji, he makes his escape when LAPD Detective James Carter (having learned about the shooting over the police radio) arrives to intervene.