I find it hard to follow the facts because none has been officially announced and we don't know which part of the STAR or Rwy approach the respective aircraft were placed, nor their altitudes. However I am sure both were desperate to get into HongQiao as Chinese ATC won't realistically allow any alternate in that area except for Pudong.
Almost 15 years in Hongkers
bekolblockage, if you stood at the crossroads at QiBao metro station, the aircraft on about 1nm final to 36R at HongQiao would be just scraping the rooftops - reminds me of Kowloon City in the good old Kai Tak days.