Either way, IMO and many others, Chef is a term or respect. Someone who leads the kitchen, leads the crew into doing the best they can, creates new dishes and keeps the quality of food up, and at times runs the front of the house (I had to when I was Chef at Fox Briar Inn) and is a mentor to the team. They should lead by example. Some chefs get respect in different ways, some with anger and whatnot, but its still a form or respect.
From the things I've heard about Chang, here and otherwise from past employees, I would have a hard time calling him chef and meaning it.