China has 'a lot of explaining to do' after spy flights found 'violating sovereignty' on 5 continents: DOD

China has "a lot of explaining to do" after its surveillance balloons were found violating nations' sovereignty in at least five continents, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.

Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder criticized China during a Wednesday briefing at the Pentagon. He stated that not only has the U.S. verified that China's surveillance balloons have entered U.S. airspace four previous times, but that China's program extends across the globe.

"This just demonstrates why [China] continues to remain our pacing challenge. And I think that they have a lot of explaining to do when it comes to conducting these types of programs and violating nations' airspace and sovereignty," Ryder told reporters.

Ryder went on to say that the scale of China's program "calls into question why China, the PRC, feel that it's okay to violate sovereign airspace of nations in a way that is inappropriate and unacceptable."