Authoritarians are using coronavirus for power grabs in Southeast Asia

Richard Heydarian is an Asia-based academic, columnist and author of "The Rise of Duterte: A Populist Revolt Against Elite Democracy" and "The Indo-Pacific: Trump, China and the New Struggle for Global Mastery."

With the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging Southeast Asian nations, the region's leaders have found a unique pretext to consolidate power and muzzle critics. In a climate of fear and uncertainty, authoritarian-leaning figures from the Philippines and Thailand to Cambodia and Malaysia have used the need for unity to achieve unprecedented legal powers and silence the opposition.