Fracture of Al2O3 tubes for different loading path under combined tension/torsion was investigated. Macroscopic directions of crack propagation agreed well with the maximum principal stress criterion, independent of the loading path. However, fracture strength from the proportional loading test($ au$/$sigma$= constant) showed either strengthening or weakening compared to that from uniaxial tension, depending on the ratio $ au$/$sigma$. The Weibull theory was capable to predict the strengthening of fracture strength in pure torsion, but not the weakening in the proportional loading condition. The strengthening or weakening of fracture strength in the proportional loading condition was explained by the effect of shear stresses in the plane of randomly oriented microdefects. Finally, a new empirical fracture criterion was proposed. This criterion is based on a mixed mode fracture criterion and experimental data for fracture of Al2O3 tubes under combined tension/torsion. The proposed fracture criterion agreed well with experimental data for both macroscopic directions of crack propagation and fracture strengths.