Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday that Edward Snowden betrayed his country by leaking classified documents about the U.S. government's surveillance programs and warned that the former National Security Agency contractor may be spying for the Chinese government.

"I think he's a traitor,” Cheney said of Snowden in an interview with “Fox News Sunday.”

"I think he has committed crimes in effect by violating agreements given the position he had," he continued. "I think it's one of the worst occasions in my memory of somebody with access to classified information doing enormous damage to the national security interests of the United States."

Cheney raised questions about Snowden's decision to flee to Hong Kong, suggesting he may be sharing sensitive information with the Chinese government. He hinted that Snowden could even be a Chinese spy.

"I'm suspicious because he went to China. That's not a place where you would ordinarily want to go if you are interested in freedom, liberty and so forth," Cheney said. "It raises questions whether or not he had that kind of connection before he did this."