Bangkok (AFP) - US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will hold talks Sunday in Thailand as part of US efforts in Southeast Asia, a key area of competition with China, and as he explores new ideas on ways to restore democracy in Burma.

Blinken is visiting Thailand, his country's oldest ally in Asia, days after a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The United States regards China as its main global rival, but both countries have recently sought to reduce tensions, and Wang and Blinken met Saturday for five hours in Bali.

Before leaving for Bangkok late Saturday, Blinken said his talks with Wang were "constructive," stressing that the world's two largest economies wanted to prevent their competition from spiraling out of control.

President Joe Biden invited Southeast Asian leaders to Washington in May to show the United States' commitment to the region, despite the administration's focus on countering Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Blinken also meets young people from Burma in Thailand, where in February 2021 the army overthrew the elected government and closed the door to the democratic transition that was sponsored by the United States and the country has lived through for a decade.

Biden responded by imposing a large number of sanctions on the military council, but achieved only a limited breach in pressuring the powerful army.

For its part, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) put forward more than a year ago a plan in which the military council participates with the opposition, but without any progress being made so far.

In a common and unfamiliar position with the United States, Wang Yi visited Burma last week and encouraged the junta to talk to the dissidents.

Daniel Kreitenbrink, the top US diplomat for East Asian affairs, said that Blinken would seek to "increase pressure on the regime to cut off its sources of funding" and work to "force Burma back to the path of democracy."

Kreitenbrink described Thailand as an "important partner" in helping restore democracy in Burma.

Blinken was scheduled to visit Bangkok late last year, but he postponed his trip after an outbreak of the Corona virus among the members of his delegation.