China's top Communist Party newspaper has branded Zhou Yongkang, the country's former security chief, a "traitor," likening him to several past turncoats who were all executed.

Zhou is currently under investigation for corruption.

"There is not much difference between Zhou Yongkang's actions and those of 'traitors' during the Party's history," the People's Daily wrote in an article on its WeChat account.

The newspaper cited the cases of three senior military officers who spied for Taiwan giving the island's government information about mainland missile deployments in the 1990s.

All three — Liu Liankun, Liu Guangzhi and Guo Wanjun — were executed.

The article also referenced the case of Gu Shunzhang, a security officer in the 1920s who defected to the Kuomintang. He gave it intelligence on Party activities before attempting to establish an opposition party and was executed by Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek.

Zhou is being investigated on a number of charges including bribe-taking and "leaking state secrets," Xinhua news agency reported.

Zhou is the most senior Party official to face prosecution since the 1980s and is part of the drive to take down both high-level "tigers" as well as low-level "flies."

Alongside the article, the People's Daily ran a caricature of Zhou depicting him as part man, part tiger with paws and fangs, and a noose around his neck.

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