BEIJING—A senior U.S. diplomat called on China, as a responsible global power, to rise above their differences and work with the United States on difficult global issues such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, speaking in an interview with The Associated Press after talks on July 26 with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng, also said the United States welcomes vigorous economic competition with China but does not want it to veer into conflict. China has bristled at American criticism on issues from human rights to its territorial ambitions and said repeatedly that the United States cannot expect cooperation while also suppressing China’s development, a charge that Sherman denied. “There are some things that rise above specific differences that are the global responsibility of great powers,” Sherman said in a phone interview shortly after she wrapped up successive meetings with …